When an isolated young woman finds herself struggling to cope with new motherhood in a new country, she begins to feel like things can't get much worse—until her baby goes missing.
Reema takes her infant daughter Anaya to the park for a playdate with Elizabeth, a friend she made online.
Elizabeth offers to watch Anaya while Reema goes to the restroom.
Anaya is gone.
Upon returning to an empty bench where Elizabeth and Anaya should be, Reema is overwhelmed with panic—why can't she see them anywhere? Was Elizabeth trying to soothe a fussy Anaya with a walk? Was she trying to move Anaya out of the sun so she didn't get overheated? With each minute that ticks by as Reema searches the park in a frenzy, a terrifying truth begins to sink in—Elizabeth has taken her child.
The police arrive. But their presence is far from comforting—in fact, the more questions the detectives ask, the more their focus seems to shift away from Elizabeth and onto… Reema?
As hours go by, Reema can sense that the police, her husband, his family, her neighbors, the media—they all blame her, even as the investigation exposes secrets and lies that everyone around her has been hiding.
Reema takes matters into her own hands. Everyone thinks she's not a good mother, but she'll prove them wrong. She has to…
Karabi George's riveting, pulse-pounding debut thriller asks a terrifying question that lingers in the back of all our minds—How much can we really trust the people closest to us?
Exclusive Excerpt Read the first chapter on Debutiful →A pulse-pounding thriller that explores the isolation and expectations of motherhood through the unique lens of a new Canadian. Twists, cliffhangers, and shocking betrayals make NOT A GOOD MOTHER a welcome and original addition to the genre.
Robyn Harding
International bestselling author of Strangers in the Villa
NOT A GOOD MOTHER by Karabi George is a knockout debut thriller that'll make your heart sit in your throat. Tense, twisted, and deeply emotional, this book will have you on the edge of your seat until the very end, and will continue to linger with you a long time thereafter.
Hannah Mary McKinnon
Internationally bestselling author of A Killer Motive
In NOT A GOOD MOTHER Karabi George explores what happens when one fateful decision sets into motion every mother's worst fear. The twists and ticking-clock tension make it a read-in-a-day thriller, but it's George's sharp insights and unique perspective as a new Canadian that elevate this debut.
Karma Brown
#1 international bestselling author of Mother is Watching
NOT A GOOD MOTHER deftly handles the emotional intensity, isolation, and raw vulnerability of being a new mother, while keeping you on the edge of your seat in a race to find a kidnapped baby. Complete with twists and turns and pulse-pounding moments, but also with a heart-wrenching core of how overwhelming and lonely early motherhood can be, this was an intricate and truly stunning debut.
Ashley Tate
Bestselling author of Twenty-Seven Minutes
In NOT A GOOD MOTHER, Karabi George depicts the universally understood terror of a mother's child being taken from her in a way that is incredibly unsettling and will not let you stop turning the pages. On an even deeper level, she gives us insight into what it's like to experience marriage, motherhood, and loss as a new immigrant, the feeling of loneliness, bias and hopelessness. This book is an edge-of-your-seat thriller while at the same time highlighting how quick society is to judge mothers on their merit, how isolating new motherhood can be and the need to do better by all women in every stage of their mothering journey.
Jessica Hamilton
Author of the highly anticipated novel The Woods