A tense, pause-resisting psychological drama about the making and breaking of a family - and a woman whose experience of motherhood is nothing at all what she hoped for - and everything she feared

Blythe Connor is determined that she will be the warm, comforting mother to her new baby Violet that she herself never had.

But in the thick of motherhood's exhausting early days, Blythe becomes convinced that something is wrong with her daughter - she doesn't behave like most children do.

Or is it all in Blythe's head? Her husband, Fox, says she's imagining things. The more Fox dismisses her fears, the more Blythe begins to question her own sanity, and the more we begin to question what Blythe is telling us about her life as well.

Then their son Sam is born - and with him, Blythe has the blissful connection she'd always imagined with her child. Even Violet seems to love her little brother. But when life as they know it is changed in an instant, the devastating fall-out forces Blythe to face the truth.

The Push is a tour de force you will listen in a sitting, an utterly immersive novel that will challenge everything you think you know about motherhood, about what we owe our children, and what it feels like when women are not believed.

Listening Length

8 hours and 38 minutes
Author

Ashley Audrain
Narrator

Marin Ireland
Audible release date

January 5, 2021
Language

English
Publisher

Penguin Audio
ASIN

B088C3PM7N
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	8 hours and 38 minutes
Author	Ashley Audrain
Narrator	Marin Ireland
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	January 05, 2021
Publisher	Penguin Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B088C3PM7N
Best Sellers Rank	#679 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #11 in Domestic Thrillers (Audible Books & Originals) #30 in Family Life Fiction (Audible Books & Originals) #31 in Psychological Thrillers (Audible Books & Originals)

Customer reviews

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1 star		2%

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Miss M

"The Push" will haunt you long after the last sentence leaves you gasping!

Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2021

Verified Purchase

After reading “The Push” I understand what all the excitement is about. It is a tautly written fast paced story that propels the reader to an abrupt and terrifying ending. However, “The Push” is much more than a “Gone Girl” wannabe! The main character takes us on a journey that explores deep issues. What are the generational implications of being raised by a deeply damaged mother? Mental illness, neglect, failure to bond all resonate through the four generations of mothers and daughters in this story. The author relates in excruciating detail the experiences of childbirth and those early weeks and months of motherhood that take all new mothers by surprise in their intensity, beauty and pain. The complexities of love and the breakdown of a marriage in the wake of tragedy are revealed in the small details of domestic life. The crushing weight of grief at the center of the novel is almost too much to bear! Our main character’s healing journey is surprising in the path it takes, almost to the edge of madness and back.
“The Push” makes us question the very nature of reality. Our protagonist vacillates between what she believes to be true and what she so desperately wants to deny. Her foundation has been ripped from under her feet and she no longer trusts her instincts. As readers, we struggle with trusting the narrator not because she wishes to deceive us but because she does not trust herself.
“The Push” will haunt you long after the final sentence leaves you gasping.

113 people found this helpful

Helpful

Carolyn

Dysfunctional mothers. Nature versus nurture

Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2021

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for an early electronic copy of this unsettling and riveting book. It focused on three generations of dysfunctional, unloving mothers. It raises the debate of nature versus nurture. It was well-written and compelling. Blythe's present story alternates with her neglectful and abusive mother and grandmother's past stories, and I thought the transition was not always a smooth one. This book is mainly about Blythe and her struggle to break the cycle and be viewed by herself and others as a good and caring mother.

This was a character-driven book about the disintegration of a marriage. Depending on the reader, I feel the response will be polarizing. For many, it will be a fascinating psychological study and thriller. For others, myself included, it will hold too many harsh triggers that will touch on personal memories and concerns.

There are graphic descriptions of childbirth and nursing problems, postpartum depression, failure to bond with a child, growing paranoia and deception, miscarriage, abortion, infant death, child abuse and neglect, suicide, and weak, ineffective men. Some of these topics made me personally uncomfortable.

The painful, chilling family drama was an uncomfortable read for me. Blythe is married to Fox. She fails to bond with their new baby, Violet, whom Fox adores. She finds she is uncomfortable with and dislikes her new daughter and that the child returns these feelings. Fox minimizes Blythe's concern that something is wrong with their daughter and that she is exaggerating her problems and emotional responses. They have a baby son, and Blythe is enjoying the feeling of being a normal, loving mother for the first time. There is suspicion that Violet may have committed some terrible acts. Fox makes excuses for their daughter and blames Blythe's unjustified fear and instability. He eventually leaves home.

Early in the book, I anticipated the ending but later dismissed this speculation. When it did come, it was a terrible shock but left open-ended. I believe many readers will find this a gripping story about motherhood but regret it just wasn't for me.

219 people found this helpful

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Lynette E Miller

Gripping!!!

Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2021

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REVIEW - 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5 🌟
TW: Child abuse, suicide, postpartum depression, mental illness

I don’t know where to begin! This book is dark, y’all. Unsettling. Uncomfortable. But completely gripping. I stayed up until 1:45am because I couldn’t stop. It’s like watching a train wreck - you just can’t look away.

Told completely in the narrative (amazing!) Blythe tells her husband Fox a detailed account of her struggle as a mother to her daughter Violet. Blythe herself was a child of a dysfunctional and unloving mother - who was the child of a dysfunctional and unloving mother. Multiple vignettes tell horror stories of trauma instilled by Blythe’s mother and grandmother. Blythe wants to be a mother and break the cycle...but struggles to love her - at times VERY - unlovable daughter. Is Violet a bad seed? A product of nature? Three generations of dysfunction would leave you to believe so. But what is the role of nurture?

“You know, there’s a lot about ourselves that we can’t change - it’s just the way we’re born. But some parts of us are shaped by what we see. And how we’re treated by other people. How we’re made to feel.”

I couldn’t stop reading this one. It won’t be for everyone, but if you love a good piece of literary fiction turned psychological thriller, this one will stay with you a long long time. Highly recommend!

59 people found this helpful

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Lazoc

Not For Me

Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2021

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I kept reading looking for resolution... there is none. Four generations of mental health issues and no one on the outside (teachers, husbands, in-laws, neighbors, etc) think to get help for them. There wasn't a single character in this book to like. Too depressing, disturbing. Not a thriller just sad.

167 people found this helpful

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DomeniqueCY

Not fun.

Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2021

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Oh, that wasn't fun. Probably shouldn't have read it 4 months postpartum with my second child...

"The Push" narrated in a semi-fluid second-person point of view, follows Blythe and her daughter and son. Her daughter might be a maniacal killer, or Blythe might just be incredibly mentally unstable, or both. I don't know, so many levels here: how to be a mom when you didn't have a good mom, how to be a mom when you yourself are mentally unreliable, how to be a mom to a maniacal killer (or not?), how to be a mom to dead children...It's almost too much for the postpartum mind. Maybe another year, another time of my life I could give it a more fair shot. --

106 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Bionic Sarah

First 5 star book of 2021

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 9, 2021

Verified Purchase

Wow what a book
don’t think I’ve ever been more aware of any book before it’s publication date , twitter was full of reviews from
People who had read pre publication copies.I actually became quite frustrated that I had to wait until it was formally released to get a copy .Surely no book could be worth all this hype
It’s rare to read a description of motherhood when the relationship between mother abs child is so difficult and in this book with its description of 3 generations of mothers having troubles bonding with their daughters is breathtaking. How many of us admit to those feelings of ambivalence or even dislike for our own children . We don’t it’s against any acceptable view of motherhood .We are supposed to fall in love with our infant at birth surrounded by the oxytocin high .The description of birth here is so raw so elemental and does not flinch from what for many women can be a bloody awful experience.
How much more difficult would motherhood be if your owen relationship with your mother had strained or imperfect.
Imagine then that you feared your child was potentially responsible for the death of their sibling. Even to have that thought in the first place would seem like an impossibility .
I adored this book and would have stayed up all night to finish it if I possibly could .As it was I’d finished the next morning before it was fully light

56 people found this helpful

Gems

AVOID. Utterly confusing! (A bit of spoilers)

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 19, 2021

Verified Purchase

I lasted till page 13 before I gave up on this book. The author writes about “you” throughout the book and I have no idea who “you” is! It’s confusing to understand the characters when “you” doesn’t have a name.

The first few pages were very confusing with the author writing about someone sat outside a house watching “your” daughter then it changes to “our” daughter. I don’t understand it.
I’m not surprised this is the authors first novel. It’s drivel. Avoid and don’t waste your money. I can’t even return it without paying postage costs!😡

36 people found this helpful

Janesh

Disquieting but compulsive read.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 10, 2021

Verified Purchase

Disquieting but compulsive read, The Push asks a very sinister What If about the relationship between mother and child. I’m not going to reveal anymore of the plot other than to say it gripped me from beginning to end and although deeply unsettling it never felt too much to bear thanks to the exquisite writing and the central character Blythe. It will stay with me for a long time.

34 people found this helpful

Nicky 6

Oh wow 😳

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 12, 2021

Verified Purchase

Amazing book. I read this in two days giving up sleep,
I will have to read this 100 times to work out if mother Blythe is mentally ill and paranoid, or if her worries re her daughter are true.
To work out if her Daughters behaviour (if it’s real) is due to the trauma of having a mother that’s not bonded with you, or a Father that’s detached too in his own selfish way, or both. Or if it’s hereditary.
Same for the mother. Then the push, The push in the centre of the book, the heart rippingly tragic one- was it one of them, or an accident?
I honestly will never know the answers this book works all ways. It’s an incredible read. Amazing. Shivering now thinking about it.

22 people found this helpful

Tillytruffles

Good storyline but a little underwhelming

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 17, 2021

Verified Purchase

Enjoyed the plot, but the length of the chapters was somewhat annoying. Is it necessary to have 80+ chapters in a 300 page book? Seems excessive. The character of Violet was written very well, so well it made me intensely dislike her! Fox, Blythe’s husband was unsupportive in regards to the children, and blamed his wife for Violet’s behaviour, which is extremely unfair (considering his illicit affair). Didn’t care deeply for any of the characters, but could empathise for Blythe who has a difficult and sinister daughter. I expected to like this book a lot more, but I still think it is a strong debut novel, and would recommend to people who enjoy a dark, thrilling and complex storyline.

19 people found this helpful

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