L is for The Little House by Philippa Gregory

It's my birthday today!! So I'm not really here, I'm spending time with my family and being thoroughly spoilt with presents and chocolate... hopefully. I'll catch up with all your comments tomorrow, but be sure to whisper!

On with today's post...

The Little House is a pyschological thriller about a new mother and the way her mother-in-law tries to take over. The writing is very stubtle. I was a new mother when I first read this book, and several of the early incidents happened to me - like not havng any clean nappies to hand at an inopportune moment, like not having time to have a shower and having milk stains down a top I wore yesterday, like not having time to hoover or clean the house.

The Goodreads page

The mother-in-law - who is nothing like the mother-in-law I have - is on hand to tell this poor new mother how she'd managed to always have a clean house, clean clothes, a fully made-up face to greet her husband. How she didn't have any help when she had a new baby.

Gradually, without the reader realising, the story escalates until the young mother is sectioned; with even her husband, the new father, believing that his wife is lacking as a mother and a danger to the baby. And when you look back, it all seems so reasonable. I remember a cold goose-bumpy feeling. Could I, could my friends, suffer the same fate?

I won't give the story away, if you haven't read it, but it's worth checking out.

What I took from this novel was pacing, the importance of balance and detail when you're creating the world in which your characters live.