The Mother

Marcia Williams experiences every parent's worst nightmare: the murder of a child, her 16-year-old son, Ryan. As she girds herself to attend the trial of the teenager charged with fatally stabbing Ryan, Marcia's husband, Lloydie, withdraws; each day as she leaves for the courthouse, Marcia hopes he will attend with her, but Lloydie leaves the house before she's even out of bed. Marcia longs to understand why her son was killed, but Lloydie can't face it. So Marcia goes to the Old Bailey flanked by her sister, Lorna, and her family liaison officer, Nipa, to publicly endure the details of her only child's brutal death.

As Yvvette Edwards (A Cupboard Full of Coats) unfolds the story of Ryan's murder through the events of his killer's trial, she also exposes the trauma inflicted on Marcia and Lloydie's marriage. Both parents are barely treading water; close enough to touch, yet fearing if they do, the tiny shift in force will be all that's necessary to drown them.

The Williamses' delicate equilibrium is shattered and the trial upended when a dramatic surprise is revealed in court. It changes the course of the case and the direction of the couple's lives, but will this revelation bring justice for Ryan and salvation for his parents, or will it be the final tug that pulls them under for good?

Told through Marcia's perspective, Mother is intimate and painfully honest. Her voice is authentic, expressing paralyzing conflict between what she should feel and what she actually feels. Ultimately, in this dark story of loss, a glimmer of hope shines in a light called mother. --Jen Forbus of Jen's Book Thoughts

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