2019 Book Review #31: Her One Mistake

This is a debut novel and it's thrilling!

It falls under the genre of suspense, psychological thriller/mystery/drama.

It's set in England in the present day.

If the author continues to write more novels, she will be a huge success if they are as good as this first one!

STORY SUMMARY

Charlotte and her ex-husband Tom have 3 children:  Jack, Molly, and Evie.  Evie is a preschooler and the other two are in elementary school. Charlotte and Tom have a better relationship as friends than when they were married.  Tom helps out with the children when needed.  Charlotte's group of friends are all moms whose children attend the same schools as her own children.  One of her best friends is Audrey.  But her very best friend whom she tells everything to is Harriet.  

Harriet is married to a man named Brian.  Brian is rather controlling and doesn't want Harriet to work outside the home.  They have one preschool aged daughter named Alice.  Alice is Harriet's very life.  She has never left Alice with anyone before because she really doesn't trust anyone with her child.

But one hot early summer Saturday afternoon, Harriet agrees to let Charlotte take Alice to the school fair at a local park where all the families will be gathering.  Harriet has to take a business class at a hotel so is unable to go to the fair and Brian fishes every Saturday.  Charlotte reassures Harriet that all will be well.

At the fair, they head over to a bouncy house where Charlotte tells Jack and Molly to keep an eye on Alice.  Alice is a quiet child who rarely speaks.  Charlotte has Evie with her and is on her phone browsing Facebook when all of a sudden she doesn't see Alice.  She swears she only took her eyes off the children for a moment!

Jack and Molly say they never saw Alice actually get on the bouncy house.

Charlotte immediately searches everywhere and gets the help of the other families as well as Audrey who is trying to calm her down.  How is Charlotte going to face Harriet??

Harriet, who is devastated by the loss of her only child, can no longer speak to Charlotte.  Now she is more isolated than ever and  while struggling to keep her own marriage afloat, she begins to believe nothing and trusts no one. Not even her own husband!

The police begin to question both women and are trying to  figure out the puzzle of this missing child. There's been no shoes found at the bouncy house so they suspect she was never on it to begin with.  There's been no ransom note or phone call which is unusual in a kidnapping.  All the townsfolk think it's related to the other missing little boy (Mason) who disappeared a few months earlier in the year. 

Dark secrets begin to appear in Harriet's life. Harriet finds out that confiding in Charlotte again might be the only way to get her daughter back.

When Mason's body is discovered, Harriet can only imagine the worse:  Is Alice going to turn up dead or is she in a safe place and will be ever be reunited with her little girl??

MY THOUGHTS

This book is fast-paced. I read it in just 4 days.

The main themes seem to be childhood abandonment, emotional/verbal marital abuse, the effects of social media in our daily lives, lies/betrayal and forgiveness, friendship.  The effects of being raised by a single mother also plays a part in both characters' lives (Charlotte and Harriet).

About half-way through the book, I began to figure out what was happening as the author does an excellent job in describing Brian and his hold on Harriet.

The ending is very good right up until the last page.  

The emotions that come out in this book about the bond between mother and child and the way we will do anything to save our child and our selves is breath-taking.  I found my self holding my breath in certain points and then letting it out on the next page.  This book is going to keep you up at night!

I don't want to ruin anything for you but there was one quote that really stood out to me so I will only quote the last part of it:

"....but then being a mother can make you to go extraordinary lengths." (pg 307 Her One Mistake by Heidi Perks, c.2019)

The author does a great job in bringing to light just how devastating emotionally,  and sometimes mentally, verbal/emotional abuse is in a marriage. And just how far a woman might need to go to become safe. This book also brings to light just how difficult it is to really know someone.....and to really know the inner struggles they face day to day.

In my opinion this book is appropriate for ages 14 and older.

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 10.