If they hadn't lived next door and if they hadn't become close friends, would it have changed anything for them? David and Laetitia Brunelle and Sylvain and Tiphaine Geniot had bonded before they became pregnant and after their sons were born the friendship deepened. A horrible tragedy shattered all their lives, spiraling from bad to worse rapidly. Could this once-solid friendship be saved?
MOTHERS' INSTINCT by Barbara Abel gives readers a front-row seat into the lives of its characters and the more we get to know them we begin to wonder just who is capable of what. Who can be trusted? Masterfully told, the narrative explores how and why their relationship imploded. Added to the mix was every negative emotion one could experience: fear, vengeance, suspicion, and terror just to name a few. Relationships are examined as paranoia escalates.
I found MOTHERS' INSTINCT a book that was very difficult to put down. It is a dark and shocking story that grips the reader's attention from start to finish. For those who enjoy a skillfully told domestic thriller, this book is well worth reading.
Soon to be a major US motion picture starring Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain, Mothers’ Instinct is a dark, twisty domestic thriller in which the bond between two couples—best friends and next-door neighbors—mutates in dangerous and deadly ways in the wake of a tragic accident.
David and Laetitia Brunelle and Sylvain and Tiphaine Geniot are inseparable friends and next-door neighbors in a pretty, tranquil suburb. Their sons Milo and Maxime, born in the same year, grow up together as close as brothers. But when Maxime is killed in an accident, their idyllic world shatters. Maxime's parents, Sylvain and Tiphaine, are consumed by grief and bitterness, while David and Laetitia are wracked with guilt for their role in the tragedy. Soon the couples are barely speaking, although they maintain a polite façade.
Then a mysterious series of “accidents” begins to happen to Milo, raising Laetitia’s suspicions. Are their former best friends trying to punish them by threatening their son? As an increasingly paranoid Laetitia frantically tries to protect Milo from harm, the little civility left between the two families curdles into outward hostility. Is Laetitia just imagining things? Or are Sylvain and Tiphaine secretly conspiring to exact their revenge . . . and if so, who will pay?
In her American debut, blockbuster Belgian author Barbara Abel plunges into the deepest, darkest corners of her characters’ hearts and minds to explore the limits of friendship, the overwhelming power of maternal love, and how far hate, fear, and vengeance can drive us. Tense and blood-chilling, with a surprising final twist, Mothers' Instinct will keep you on edge until the final page.