The New Mother

Having a new baby is hard for anyone, but for lawyer Natalie the daily grind of keeping up with baby Oliver while her husband goes to work seems like both thankless drudgery and the most important job in the world, one at which she’s failing miserably. All Oliver wants to do is nurse, leaving Natalie little time to sleep, and when she does collapse into bed, she lies awake fretting about her failures. So when Paul, a kindly neighbor and a stay-at-home dad, slowly gains her trust and seems to be the only one who understands—Oliver even likes him!—Natalie is quickly drawn into his care. Erin, his wife, a stern, perfect woman whom he has come to loathe, is not a fan of Natalie. The young woman’s presence, and her growing relationship with Paul, brings back painful, humiliating memories for Erin, including his transgression with the woman who lived in Natalie’s house before, whose family, readers learn, moved in an odd hurry. The hormonal, messy, and puzzling time warp of the first months of life with a new baby are the perfect backdrop for a psychological thriller, and this one will keep parents especially rapt. While you wait for it, try Murphy’s The Favor, another absorbing domestic drama.