Date: March 6, 2025
Author: Ashley Audrain
Title: The Push
Woooowwwww… Brava Ms. Ashley Audrain! I am at page 60 and I am officially hooked! I had to pause to make note of this because I can’t wait to keep reading to see if, at the end, I am correct. I believe the fundamental idea behind this plot is to delve into the psyche of someone whom has grown up knowing abuse and how, as an adult, she is the one now abusing her own daughter. Quite reminiscent of her mum. And her mum’s mum. And maybe even her mum’s mum’s mum. Possibly an exploration of the concept nature versus nurture?
I do wonder if the protagonist suffers from an extreme bout of postpartum depression or if her behavior stems from a more sinister origin.
I made it past the halfway point and I had to put the book aside. The material was very dark. Very dark, indeed. I had decided to give the story one last chance and allotted an additional 20 pages to either hook me back in or confirm the end had arrived early. I felt that would be fair considering I really do like how Mz. Audrain crafts a story. It was just so dark though. This story proves that even serial killers were once children.
How could the mum be expected to come to terms with the fact that she just witnessed her own child commit not only one murder in cold blood, but two murders? No wonder the mum was terrified of the little girl. (Yikes!) Could the mum have really just seen her daughter’s pink mittened hand push her little brother’s stroller into the street in front of that big SUV? Now back to the first dead kid, the mum then also wondered to herself: self? Did I really just see that? I couldn’t have, self confirmed. It was weird to the mum though because between her and herself it really had looked like her daughter’s foot shot out real quick at the exact same time the little boy tripped forward, diving head first from atop the playground equipment. Reality says yes that she was responsible both times. However, denial confirms she must have been trippin.’ So the mum proceeds to turn her head the other way, like that could erase facts and make her very guilty daughter be very innocent. The heartache didn’t end there for the mum either. Shortly after the little boy died the mum’s marriage completely disintegrated in a very, very, sad way. And still it gets darker yet, when Mz. Audrain introduces the scene where the mum was, herself, a little girl, praying for her mother’s death. That was the final straw for me.
I’m not saying not to read this. But I am saying this was not my cup of tea.