Thursday 30 September 2021

My Daughter's Mistake - Kate Hewitt

 I look at my daughter. My darling girl. I remember her tiny hand in mine, her first smile. I recall her
tears when she’d tumble over, healed instantly with a band-aid and a little kiss. I have to keep her safe. Even if it means someone else gets hurt…


In the pretty, privileged college town of Milford, New Hampshire, everyone is friendly, everything is safe. And on this cold autumn day, as red and yellow leaves begin to fall from the trees, and everyone wraps up for the first time, it would be easy to believe nothing bad could ever happen here.

Until a screech of tires is heard, a thud, a child’s scream. The crash that sees Jenna’s six-year-old daughter Amy Rose being hit by a car driven by seventeen-year-old Maddie.

Maddie’s mother, Ellen—a college professor with a warm, approachable reputation—insists it must have been an accident. Her daughter is always safe on the road—and she’s vulnerable herself.

But as Amy Rose lies unconscious in hospital, the town begins to take sides. With Ellen, who just wants to defend her daughter. Or with Jenna, a single mother with a past, whose child hovers between life and death…

The truth is that both mothers have secrets they’re trying to keep. And, with Amy Rose’s life hanging in the balance, one of them will stop at nothing to protect the person she loves—her daughter.

An incredible, powerfully emotional and heartbreaking read, with a dilemma that will make everyone wonder what they would do, in either mother’s shoes. Perfect for fans of Jodi Picoult, Jojo Moyes and Diane Chamberlain.

Author Bio:

Kate Hewitt is the author of many romance and women’s fiction novels. A former New Yorker and now an American ex-pat, she lives in a small town on the Welsh border with her husband, five children, and their overly affectionate Golden Retriever. Whatever the genre, she enjoys telling stories that tackle real issues and touch people’s lives. 


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My Review 

My Daughter's Mistake is told from the point of view of two mothers. Ellen, whose daughter has crashed her car and run a young girl over in the process and Jenna, whose daughter is the young girl who has been hurt. As the story unfolds it becomes clear that for both women, this isn't a straightforward accident and both sides seem to be hiding things. The more that we learn about Jenna and Ellen's lives we see that everything is far from perfect for either of them.
While this is a story about an accident and the aftermath, it's also about the lives people lead and the things that they do to try and protect themselves and the ones that they love. Jenna has spent her life keeping people distant, which is hardly surprising when we learn of all that she has faced as she grew up. For Ellen, it's been about the differences between the life she knew growing up in an academic environment and the world that her husband grew up in.
Parts of this book are horrifying. The idea that you might have to move to a different hospital because your insurance won't cover the treatment, or worry about being sued is just unimaginable. The idea of dealing with a child that might not recover from such a serious accident and be worrying about how you might pay for their treatment.
This was a gripping read and although I had an idea of what had happened at the accident (which I was right about) I still couldn't put it down until I'd read it all.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own



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