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  • A Good Enough Mother

  • By: Bev Thomas
  • Narrated by: Rebecca Lacey
  • Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (184 ratings)

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A Good Enough Mother

By: Bev Thomas
Narrated by: Rebecca Lacey
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Summary

Ruth Hartland is the director of a trauma unit, a psychotherapist with years of experience, wise and respected by her peers. But professional skill is no guard against private grief.

The mother of grown twins, she is haunted by the fact that her beautiful, difficult, fragile son Tom, a boy who never 'fit in', disappeared a year and a half earlier. She cannot give up hope of finding him but feels she is living a kind of half life, waiting for him to return.

Enter a new patient, Dan, who looks exactly like her missing son. She is determined to help him, but her own complicated feelings cloud her professional judgment. Boundaries she would never have crossed with another patient are crossed. And before long, events spiral out of control....

©2019 Bev Thomas (P)2019 W.F. Howes Ltd
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What listeners say about A Good Enough Mother

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A must read!

This book was engaging, emotional and thought provoking- couldn't wait to read on!
I loved it so much that now I'm sad that it's finished!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A bit over long!

I started out very gripped by the book but I felt it went on for too long. Also, and I've read another comment about this, the narrator kept saying 'prehaps' instead of correctly saying 'perhaps'. This is quite a commonly mispronounced word but for a narrator to do it astounded and annoyed me a lot, particularly as the word was used so often too!

I know the therapist was struggling with her own issues, but I couldn't believe how many boundaries she kept crossing and allowed her clients to cross too. I was glad to get the book finished in the end!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

brilliant Gripping read

This book was recommended to me and I can see why.I found the story and narration compelling. I couldn't wait to get in the car and listen to the next chapter.
It remained compelling to the end.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Really well narrated but overly long

Wish that this novel had been condensed as I became completely bored by the mothers continuous struggle with the disappearance of her son. Would not want to spoil for those who will enjoy this but for me, more of the present and less of the past would have made a much better listen ......and a couple of hours shorter!

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

a hauntingly beautiful story

I loved the story and the narration. Absorbing. A glimpse into raising twins, and into the work of psychotherapists. As a mother I could relate to so much of that story: the love, the worry, the guilt, the desire to make everything right, the difficulty of letting go. What makes a good enough mother?

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic read, brilliant performance

I have immensely enjoyed listening to this book. The narrative voice and the characters are delightfully complex, and the story is gripping and subtle in equal measures. One of my favourite books ever, and I am addicted to reading! I will be on the lookout for more books by this author. The focus on psychology and mental health was very welcome and I feel as though I learnt loads, but it never gets scientific or boring.
I was also very impressed by the performance of the reader, who gives you a feel of the different characters and is having to do a variety of accents, which I thought she did remarkably convincingly. I can't recommend enough!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Completely gripped from start to finish

Gobbled this up in a few weeks. Excellent theme, story and narration. So refreshing wanting to listen to a book at any given second.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Loved it

Great story. Lots of different elements to it - learning, story, drama and emotion. Well read also.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great story. Well-read

Rebecca Lacey is an excellent narrator but her only fault is that she pronounces “perhaps” as “prehaps” and unfortunately the book seems to contain the word perhaps more than any other I’ve read! So it does get a bit irritating

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

First Class

This debut novel had me gripped. As a therapist myself I had a keen interest from the start and so the book was not only entertaining but thought provoking on a professional level. I look forward to future novels! Let's hope there are some.

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