The Push is an immersive psychological drama that explores mental illness and the bond (or lack thereof) between a mother and her children. If you’re thinking about having your first child, DO NOT read The Push until your child is grown and out of the house. 😉

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Let’s begin with a quick summary of The Push:

When The Push begins, Blythe is in her car, watching as her ex-husband, Fox, and daughter, Violet, dance around their living room with Fox’s new wife and the young son Fox had with Blyth’s replacement. She’s at their house to drop off a manuscript that tells her side of their failed marriage and what she believes are her shortcomings as a mother.

Much of The Push is excerpts from this manuscript, with some flashbacks to learn more about Blythe’s mother and grandmother, both of whom were not cut out to be mothers (I’m being kind to phrase it that way). Her mother and grandmother also suffered from dark bouts of depression that had them staying in bed for days at a time.

In other words, Blythe has mental illness in her family history and comes from a line of bad mothers. These factors make the reader doubt her side of the story. Is she a reliable narrator?

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Through the manuscript excerpts, we learn about the 20 years of Blythe and Fox’s marriage. What began as a sweet love story begins to unravel with the birth of their daughter, Violet. In a grim account of motherhood, Blythe recalls an unpleasant delivery, chapped nipples, sleepless nights, and a body wrecked by pregnancy. Worst of all, she doesn’t feel a maternal bond with her difficult baby, and the distance between mother and child only increases as Violet grows older. In fact, Blythe begins to feel like there is something seriously wrong with Violet. She chillingly lacks empathy, and Blythe becomes a little afraid of her.

Things completely turn around in The Push when Blythe gives birth to her son, Sam. She finally finds the mother-child bond she’s been missing. Sam is everything to her that Violet is not. She dotes on him, while also remaining concerned about what Violet is capable of.

When the unthinkable happens, Blythe goes into a tailspin that she seemingly can’t recover from. Can her marriage survive this? Did Violet play a role in the tragedy?

I’m not going to tell you!

I used the word “immersive” in the first paragraph because The Push is the kind of novel that gets under your skin. Many of us can relate to an exhausted mother who doesn’t have the energy to shower every day and worries if she’s parenting correctly. But it’s hard to understand not having an instant bond with your baby because she seems repelled by you, and vice versa. Even worse is when your spouse thinks there’s something wrong with YOU and doesn’t listen to your concerns.

Other than a few scenes, there isn’t a ton of action in The Push, however the psychological tension kept me engaged and I was eager to see how it would end. Blythe had conflicted feelings about motherhood. With Violet, it was all about her exhaustion, the fact that her husband was no longer attracted to the body that had birthed and fed their child, and her growing wariness of Violet. With Sam, she feels like the exhaustion and saggy Mom Bod are well worth it.

While I’ve never experienced the former, I could definitely relate to Blythe’s experience with Sam. The contrast between the two experiences was well-done. It was chilling to read Blythe’s perspective about her daughter, but because I knew about Blythe’s mother and grandmother, there was just a little bit of a satisfyingly nagging doubt that Blythe was telling the truth. That’s what makes a good psychological drama.

I recommend The Push to anyone who enjoys absorbing psychological suspense books. If you’re looking for a lot of action, this isn’t the book for you, but if you enjoy consistent psychological tension, The Push just might be your next great read!

Have you read The Push? What did you think?

And thanks for the terrific book recommendation, Renee!

You might also enjoy The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell.