Poppy's world has tipped sideways. The husband who never wanted children has changed his mind. The trusted childhood best friend has betrayed her. And the new friend from work, Annalise, insists she needs to let loose.
At least Annalise is on Poppy's side - she has no interest in having kids either. After they create a private Facebook group dedicated to women like themselves who don't have or want kids, the memberships soar, and Poppy feels like she's in control again. Then things take a nasty turn. They have a mole - someone in their group isn't who she says she is.
But Poppy and Annalise aren't the only ones who are fed up. Their colleague, Frankie, is tired of being judged at every turn: by colleagues when she leaves early to pick up her kids, by stay-at-home mums when she can't volunteer at school, and by her own children for missing events. Her frustrations are complicated by a secret she's keeping, and she doesn't know how much longer she can pretend everything is fine.
As the online hostility between parents and non-parents spills out into the real world, things begin to slide disastrously, dangerously out of control, exposing carefully concealed secrets and lies that will have a devastating effect on these three women's lives.
Hey! Here's my review.
Nicola Moriarty is an auto-buy author, so when I spotted her newest release on NetGalley, I requested a copy without even reading the blurb. To my surprise, I received a paperback review copy from the publisher the very next day! That's not how NetGalley works - LOL - but it was an amazing coincidence and a sign that I needed to drop everything and start reading. I was immediately engrossed in the lives of those three women and devoured the novel in two days.
I'm a proud mum and I've always known that I wanted to have kids but I found myself daydreaming about the lives of those other women who chose not to have kids. I now have a deeper empathy for how it must feel to be constantly asked when you're having kids, or assumptions that if you don't, it's because you're infertile. I found the Facebook group drama very relatable as I've seen similar things in some of the groups I lurk in.
Online drama, workplace dynamics and female rivalry entwine with a hint of mystery in this newly released friendship focused women's fiction novel from Australian author, Nicola Moriarty.
★★★★★
- Where: NetGalley and ARC from Publisher
- Format: ebook and paperback