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Features

We read Ashley Audrain’s The Push – and we have questions

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Reading lists

Audiobooks everyone should listen to, as chosen by our readers

A photo of Ashley Audrain, author of The Push, on a red-tinted background with the interview title, 21 Questions, beside her.

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Interviews

‘I didn’t think anyone would read my novel – let alone my parents!’: 21 Questions with Ashley Audrain

The Push

THE BREATHTAKING RICHARD & JUDY BOOK CLUB SELECTION, SUNDAY TIMES AND INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER ABOUT MOTHERHOOD AND OBSESSION . . . 
 
OVER HALF A MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE 
 
'Utterly addictive' PAULA HAWKINS 
'Compulsive' VOGUE 
'Gripping' GUARDIAN 
'Inventive' SUNDAY TIMES 
'Suspenseful' HEAT 
'Not to be missed' LISA JEWELL 
________ 
 
Blythe and Violet. Mother and daughter. 
 
It's a bond like no other. 
 
But what if your little angel is a monster? 
 
And what if no one sees it but you? 
________ 
 
AS RECOMMENDED ON BBC RADIO 2 
 
**Nominated for two Goodreads Choice Awards** 
 
'Like The Girl on the Train - but better!' DAILY MAIL 
 
'A blockbusting debut about the dark side of motherhood. Gripping, clever, vividly realised . . . the ending left me flabbergasted' GUARDIAN 
 
'I read it in one sitting. Not to be missed' LISA JEWELL 
 
'An inventive twist on the psychological thriller formula. Audrain sustains the suspense expertly' SUNDAY TIMES 
 
'I can't stop thinking and talking about it . . . it has absolutely blown me away' CANDICE BRATHWAITE 
 
'I was gripped from the first word to the last. I've been wanting a book to take me back to how I felt when I first read We Need to Talk About Kevin. That full body experience of reading, when you close the book but can't function until you know how it ends . . . I really recommend this one' DAWN O'PORTER 
 
'Powerful and immersive' EMMA STONEX, author of The Lamplighters 
 
'Taut, chilling, executed with gripping precision. Audrain nimbly stokes the mystery' New York Times 
 
'A suspenseful thriller. Will have you in its grips from the very first page - and stay with you long after you've put it down. Do not miss' Heat 
 
'Suspenseful, dark and intriguing . . . essential for book groups' Stylist 
 
'Unsettling, visceral, provocative, compulsive' Sarah Vaughan 
 
'The most thought-provoking exploration of motherhood since We Need to Talk About Kevin' Clare Pooley, bestselling author of The Authenticity Project 
 
'Fans of 'mum noir' are in for a treat' Daily Mail 
 
'Audrain sustains the suspense expertly through assured handling of her unravelling protagonist's voice' Sunday Times 
 
**Soon to be adapted for the screen by the producer of Once Upon a Time . . . in Hollywood, Marriage Story and Gravity** 
 
 
Richard and Judy Book Club Pick, Spring 2022

The mother of all thrillers! Like The Girl on the Train - but better!

A gripping debut that explores and manipulates the fears and insecurities of mothers everywhere . . . Well thought out, vividly realised and gripping

An inventive twist on the psychological thriller formula . . . Audrain sustains the suspense expertly through assured handling of her unravelling protagonist's voice

Ashley dares us to find the relatable in the worst we can imagine . . . the knife-edge between relatability and horror keeps the reader hooked

I was gripped from the first word to the last. I've been wanting a book to take me back to how I felt when I first read We Need to Talk About Kevin. When you close the book but can't function until you know how it ends ... I really recommend this one

I was gripped . . . dazzling and gloriously complete

The Push was a poetic, propulsive read that set my nerves jangling in both horror and recognition. I read it one sitting and it stayed with me for days afterwards. Not to be missed

A compelling, compulsively readable thriller that never lets up and will keep you guessing right to the very last page

Emma Stonex, author of The Lamplighters

I was completely engrossed in The Push from the very first page. So tense, so all-encompassing! It's a jet-black story of motherhood, inheritance and expectations, and I loved it

A provocative, compulsive novel about modern motherhood

This has all the hallmarks of a best seller . . . Riveting . . . An intelligent, painstaking and thought-provoking account of parenting that will move anyone

A bold exploration of motherhood, as well as a suspenseful thriller, this will have you in its grips from the very first page - and will stay with you long after you've put it down. Do not miss

I read it in two nights . . . it's giving us The Girl On The Train, it's giving us We Need to Talk About Kevin, it's going to be one of the books of the year . . . it has absolutely blown me away . . . it will spark conversation and divide people . . . I can't stop thinking and talking about it

With its riveting prose and deep convictions, Ashley Audrain's The Push had me in its clutches from the first page. Audrain's astute portrayal of motherhood was unsettling in its insights, yet highly entertaining on the page. Complex, nuanced, and unflinching, I inhaled this debut in one sitting

bestselling author of Recipe for a Perfect Wife

Audrain nimbly stokes the mystery as to whether nature or nurture is at play in Violet's increasingly hostile disposition. Executed with gripping precision

Starkly original and compulsively readable, Ashley Audrain's The Push is a deep dive into the darkest nooks and crannies of motherhood. Raw, visceral, and often disturbing, this is an intense psychological drama that will be embraced by serious book clubs and fans of Lionel Shriver's We Need to Talk About Kevin

You're drawn into this world . . . it is a difficult read but no wonder it's a cause celebre in the publishing world, trust me everyone wants this book . . . a publishing sensation

I was totally hooked. Compelling, addictive, chilling. Smashing read

The most thought-provoking exploration of motherhood I've come across since We Need to Talk About Kevin

The Push is a freight train of a read - it barrels into you and propels you along, taking you places you're not sure you want to go. I found it disturbing, upsetting, and utterly compelling

Beth Morrey, author of Saving Missy

Intensely absorbing, gripping until the final page, The Push excavates the myths of motherhood, deftly exploring the shape-shifting landscape of parenting, the powerful impact of the past on the present, and the deep unease of our inability to ever fully know even those we hold the closest

Kim Edwards, bestselling author of The Memory Keeper's Daughter

Suspenseful with extreme We Need To Talk About Kevin vibes, this is the Book Club Book that'll have everyone talking next year

Stayed up too late finishing [Audrain's] deeply unsettling The Push about the darkest reaches of motherhood . . . Visceral, provocative, compulsive, and with the most graphic and relatable description of childbirth I've read (or written)

Sarah Vaughan, bestselling author of Anatomy of a Scandal

I loved it - such a dark and compelling exploration of motherhood. Absolutely haunting: a brilliant, thought-provoking page-turner

The Push is written on the edge of a knife. It's a howl in the face of what we think we know - or want to believe - about motherhood. Relentlessly compelling, distressing and beautiful, Ashley Audrain's debut is the next Gone Girl, with shades of We Need to Talk About Kevin. I devoured it whole

Marissa Stapley, bestselling author of The Last Resort

The Push is not a book you'll be able to forget easily . . . an unputdownable story that will be the book everyone is talking about in 2021

Compelling, beautifully written and wickedly entertaining... A tremendously thought-provoking read

Liz Nugent, author of Little Cruelties and Lying in Wait

Astonishingly good. Beautifully written, gripping, disturbing

A tense and unsettling thriller that's immersive, chilling, and provocative. A book that's best read in one sitting

Iain Reid, author of I'm Thinking of Ending Things

Ashley Audrain's The Push is not only a propulsively entertaining, read-in-one-sitting novel, it is also a deeply provocative and fearless look at motherhood written in some of the prettiest prose you'll read all year

Aimee Molloy, New York Times bestselling author of The Perfect Mother

Written with a courage that borders on audacity, and with uncanny emotional and psychological precision, Ashley Audrain's The Push is a taut, tour-de-force literary thriller that draws you in from the very first pages and plunges you into the most harrowing of journeys: parenthood

Bill Clegg, New York Times bestselling author of Did You Ever Have A Family?

A meteoric debut. Ashley Audrain's The Push is a force of nature, an unforgettable arrival that will linger in your heart--shimmer, darken and then haunt you. Every sentence is just so achingly alive. Audrain descends with near pointillistic precision into the gore of motherhood and love. Perhaps if Stephen King had experienced motherhood--the singular exaltation and morbid terror of that state--he might have been able to dream up this book. Wise, monstrous, and tender, The Push operates at a different frequency. It seemed to pulse in my hands. I could not put it down. I could not look away

Claudia Dey, author of Heartbreaker and Stunt

One to watch ... The Push is told from the point of view of Blythe Connor, whose experience of motherhood is not what she hoped for

Staggering - it is an intoxicating rush of a book that grips you tight from the first few pages and will not let you go

Most anticipated books of 2021 'Pre-order now and thank yourself later'

Harper's Bazaar, This Winter's Best New Releases from Rising Novelists

The Push is a vivid and complex spiral of questioning your grasp on reality, of uttering unspeakable thoughts, when the world tells you it's all in your head. Book blurbs often say they'll be devoured in one sitting - it's rare it proves so true

Suspenseful, dark and intriguing . . . It's going to be a big discussion point in 2021

A haunting tale about the expectations and reality of motherhood. Stunning . . . You end up staying up all night to finish The Push

Visceral, compulsive and astonishing. I could not put this down

Raynor Winn, bestselling author of The Salt Path

'Best books to look forward to in 2021'

The chilling novel that caused a bidding frenzy more than lives up to the hype

A terrifying, psychological suspense tale of motherhood and nature versus nurture

This chilling tale barrels along towards a dark, thought-provoking ending

The tense, gripping novel - which, after a nine-way bidding war, has already been optioned for film by the producer of ugly-cry-inducing Marriage Story - will stay with you long after you finish the last page

This psychological family drama will be your next one-sit read . . . you won't want to miss it

A creepy, nuanced story that, with a growing sense of dread, subverts the ideals of motherhood so often presented as inviolable

Buckle up for a riveting read . . . will have you alternately whizzing through the pages to see what happens next, and reading slowly with widened eyes

[An] exploration of love, obsession and the dark truths of motherhood

Reminiscent of We Need to Talk About Kevin, Ashley Audrain has delivered a provocative, compulsive novel about modern motherhood

Compelling . . . A disturbing and complex tale about dysfunctional mother-daughter relationships. It's not always an easy read but it's absolutely one you won't be able to put down

The mother of all thrillers! Like The Girl on the Train - but better!

Utterly mesmerising. Ashley Audrain's powerful debut novel explores the challenges of motherhood and the terrifying isolation of being trapped within a sinister truth that no-one else believes.

Fiona Valpy, bestselling author of The Beekeeper's Promise

One of the most anticipated novels of this year . . . fast-paced, it has the ability to distract you from anything. Exactly what we need right now

Written with an unflinching eye and a stylistically sharp, tight economy The Push is a single-sitting read, as suspenseful as any thriller, as thoughtful as any literary novel, with an almost physical force behind each of its turns and revelations. By the end, the reader will feel wrung out in the way only the best of books leaves you. Audrain's debut is a stunning, devastating novel and, frankly, one hell of a way to start a year of reading

Hooks you from the very first page and will have you racing to get to the end

This is a sterling addition to the burgeoning canon of bad seed suspense, from an arrestingly original new voice

This taut and tense hurricane of a debut is best devoured in one sitting

This dazzling debut mixes page-turning suspense with a psychological drama

Once you start in on this story, it becomes difficult to control yourself. A twisted, tight, and exhilarating drama

This psychological thriller about a mother's bond with her daughter will keep you turning pages

This nuanced book challenges the notion of nature versus nurture, and whether a mother's love is enough. It's disturbing, painful and brilliant, holding a mirror up to society

The Push is a thriller that is also a compelling examination of motherhood and of how trauma is passed down through generations

A tense, chilling dip into the dark side of motherhood . . . The Push is uncomfortable and provocative, like a train wreck that demands your gaze

The most tense, thrilling read that will chill and enthral in equal measure

Disturbingly brilliant . . . will render you speechless

A page-turning debut crafted with shrewd expertise - read it before the inevitable screen adaptation

Unflinching, moving and very, very powerful

The clever and powerful psychological thriller everyone has been talking about . . . an unsettling, breathtaking and powerful read about obsession and our deepest fears that will stay with you long after you turn the final page

Audrain has the ability to mesmerise . . . heart-wrenching. A dark, pacy read

A compelling, visceral and bruising portrayal of motherhood that once read cannot ever be forgotten

A chilling and beautifully written novel that will strike dread into the heart of any new parent. The ending gave me goosebumps

Mark Edwards, bestselling author of Here To Stay

A powerful debut about obsession and our deepest fears . . . will have you hooked

Exploring the dysfunctional lives of three generations of women, The Push deals with the way damage is handed down

A thought-provoking novel that delves deep into the emotional crevices of motherhood

Taut and gripping, this is a provocative look at motherhood

The Push is an unsettling and powerful read about obsession and our deepest fears that will stay with you long after you turn the final page

A gripping and vivid thriller . . . It's easy to understand why The Push has caught the attention of Hollywood film producers

Remarkably told story which I couldn't put down. Deftly drawn characters...What a book! And the last line is creepy, haunting perfection

Christina Sweeney Baird, author of The End of Men

The danger that simmers throughout is so unbearably tense! A wonderful incisive look at maternal guilt ... the effect is staggering

Fasten your seatbelt because this book is a face paced, page turning, psychological drama that will have you on the edge of your seat until the very last line

Challenges the idyllic picture of motherhood, and will change what you know about being a mother. It is tenacious and really makes you think about what it's like when women aren't taken seriously

For fans of mum noir, The Push is an unsettling, breathtaking and powerful read about obsession and our deepest fears that will stay with you long after you turn the final page

This dark, psychological thriller offers such twists and turns that we start to doubt what we believe . . . And that sharp-intake-of-breath ending!

I didn't sleep for a week after I finished it, but that's a small price to pay for a great book

Lauren Weisberger, author of The Devil Wears Prada

An unflinching examination of motherhood. Audrain lets no one in the Connor family off the hook, yet every character managed to elicit my sympathy. Brilliant, insightful, compassionate, and horrifying. I wish I could read it for the first time over and over. One of the best books I've read all year

One of the most talked-about books of the year. This nuanced psychological book will make you question the notion of nature vs nurture. Disturbing, painful and brilliant

This unsettling debut was so riveting it had me devouring pages and then reading slowly with widened eyes

Addictively readable . . . shines a disturbing light into the darkest recesses of motherhood

An unsettling, breathtaking and powerful read about obsession and our deepest fears that will stay with you long after you turn the final page.

A raw and visceral exploration of a mother-daughter relationship; a haunting and heartbreaking novel that will leave you thinking about it for days after you finish the last page

ASHLEY AUDRAIN's debut novel THE PUSH is a New York Times, Sunday Times and #1 international bestseller, and a Good Morning America book club pick. It's been translated into 36 languages, and a limited television series is currently in development. Ashley previously worked as the publicity director of Penguin Books Canada, and prior to that, worked in public relations. She lives in Toronto, where she and her partner are raising their two young children. Ashley is currently working on her second novel THE WHISPERS.

'I think she pushed him,' I said to you quietly. 'I think she pushed him . . .' 
 
The arrival of baby Violet was meant to be the happiest day of my life. But as soon as I held her in my arms I knew something wasn't right. 
 
I had always known that the women in my family aren't meant to be mothers. My husband Fox says I'm imagining it. He tells me I'm nothing like my own mother, and that Violet is the sweetest child. 
 
But something feels very wrong. Is it her? Or is it me? Is she the monster? Or am I?

Ashley Audrain

Thought-provoking and gripping, this is worthy of all the praise coming its way

The Whispers is spellbinding, a shimmering, visceral ride through the dark side of family, of community, of womanhood and mothering. Nobody delves as deep into the guts of motherhood as Ashley Audrain, she really is in a league of her own

Lisa Jewell, Sunday Times #1 Bestselling Author

A punchy page-turner about motherhood, sacrifice and the huge expectations that are forced on to women

Miranda Cowley Heller, bestselling author of The Paper Palace

Enticing, nuanced, and unflinching, The Whispers opens a secret portal into the private lives of women in suburbia. A narrative portrait of motherhood and marriage, of loneliness and longing, of loss and desire, this is a novel where the characters are so recognizable, it's nearly impossible to feel they are strangers. Rather, through the course of the deeply thrilling and provocative pages, one comes to feel they're as real as neighbours, colleagues and friends. A truly masterful novel

Nita Prose, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Maid

Riveting ... a fearless deep dive into the real internal lives of women. The Whispers is a brilliant, deeply affecting novel you won't soon forget

Shari Lapena, bestselling author of The Couple Next Door

Rage unites these women - rage that is expertly, subtly and powerfully rendered by Audrain . . . and, after Audrain has lulled you into a sense of resignation over her characters' fates, she delivers a sucker-punch ending you'll have to read twice to believe

A chilling story and a beautifully observed exploration of what it means to be a woman, highlighting the sacrifices involved and the often frightening choices that have to be made. The knowledge that something awful is looming lends the narrative a compelling sense of unease that builds to a thickening dread as Audrain ratchets up the tension. A quietly revelatory and unnerving novel that works on so many levels - I couldn't put it down

Sarah Pearse, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Sanatorium

A dark, unflinching family drama. A pageturner

A beautifully written, twisty and thought-provoking novel about the demands of modern women, motherhood and how our own past shapes us. The Whispers is packed with suspense, tension and unforgettable characters and I couldn't read it fast enough. I adored it!

Claire Douglas, number one bestselling author of The Couple at No.9

Ashley Audrain is the master of simmering resentment and paranoia, mental load and motherhood. This slow-burn thriller is gripping and horrifying and with a perfectly shocking ending. It's going to be huge, absolutely unmissable.

Catherine Cooper, bestselling author of The Cruise

The novel's breathless pace and devastatingly poignant observations about the realities of motherhood and womanhood today make every page a gut punch, and the mystery woven in will leave you guessing until the very last page

No one understands the secret lives of women like Ashley Audrain. In her electrifying new novel, The Whispers, the unspoken fears, desires, and shame of four neighbours threaten the lives they've so carefully constructed. It's a razor-sharp page-turner. Masterful!

Carley Fortune, New York Times bestselling author of Every Summer After

If you couldn't get enough of Audrain's debut novel, The Push, you will devour this highly anticipated follow-up. A brilliant, honest read about families in crisis

A masterwork: a page-turner, a searing emotional rollercoaster and a beautifully-written hymn to the pain, the love, the fury of motherhood. I could think about nothing but Ashley Audrain's perfectly-drawn characters in the three days it took me to tear through this novel, and I suspect they will live on in my mind for a long time to come. Sensational

Rosie Walsh, bestselling author of The Man Who Didn't Call

Driven by desire, jealousy and revenge, everyone is under suspicion and guilty of something in this powerful, edgy and addictive novel by the queen of psychological drama, Ashley Audrain. An honest, uncensored look at women and motherhood in the wake of a mysterious tragedy, The Whispers is a must-read

Mary Kubica, New York Times bestselling author of Just the Nicest Couple

I couldn't put The Whispers down. It held me by my throat the entire way and left me in awe of Audrain's talent and her ability to put the female experience so ruthlessly, so painfully and so beautifully into words. She is exceptional at her craft, one of the best, and her work should be read religiously and consistently by all. I can't recommend this book enough

A punchy page-turner about motherhood, sacrifice and the huge expectations we force on to women

Ashley Audrain writes about motherhood and how it feels to be a woman today with a fearlessness few can muster. Every time I turned a page, I thought: yes! This is why I read--to connect, to feel seen, to be confronted with my deepest fears, and, of course, to go on a breathtakingly suspenseful ride while doing it

Chandler Baker, New York Times bestselling author of The Husbands

Ashley Audrain has a profound understanding of how thin the line between good and evil can be. THE WHISPERS leads readers past the carefully composed facade of Harlow Street to dig, unflinchingly, into themes of motherhood, fidelity, privilege and complicity, resulting in a novel that not only delivers on the promise of its taut, explosive and page-turning plot-but redefines the very idea of what a thriller is and can be. Daring, incisive, and exquisitely written, Audrain has proven herself a force like no other

Courtney Summers, New York Times bestselling author of Sadie

A cracking psychological thriller that keeps you guessing to the final pages. Thought-provoking, gripping, worthy of all the praise

A chilling psychodrama about motherhood and community

The Whispers held me in its grip from the first page until the final, gasp-worthy line - a raw, provocative, mesmerising thriller, charting the darkest psychological contours of motherhood with devastating precision. Audrain writes with such unsettling honesty and I found it impossible to tear myself away from her characters. Fans of The Push will not be disappointed!

Katherine Faulkner, author of Greenwich Park

A tense tale about motherhood, friendship and betrayal

I was blown away by The Push, and found myself equally enthralled by The Whispers

A brilliant beach read of a thriller that you're likely to chomp through in a single sitting

Her books are quickly becoming a must read

The whispers started long before the accident on Harlow Street . . . 
 
Was it at the party, when Whitney screamed blue murder at her son? Or after neighbour Blair started prowling Whitney's house, uninvited? Or once Rebecca and Ben's childlessness finally puts a crack in their marriage? 
 
But on the terrible night of the accident, the whispers grow louder, more insistent. Neighbours gather round. Questions are asked. Secrets are spilled. Everyone is drawn into the darkness. 
 
Because there's no smoke without fire. No friendship without envy. And no lie that does not conceal a devastating truth . . .

Ashley Audrain

Praise for The Whispers

Thought-provoking and gripping, this is worthy of all the praise coming its way

The Whispers is spellbinding, a shimmering, visceral ride through the dark side of family, of community, of womanhood and mothering. Nobody delves as deep into the guts of motherhood as Ashley Audra ...

A punchy page-turner about motherhood, sacrifice and the huge expectations that are forced on to women

Thought-provoking and gripping, this is worthy of all the praise coming its way

The Whispers is spellbinding, a shimmering, visceral ride through the dark side of family, of community, of womanhood and mothering. Nobody delves as deep into the guts of motherhood as Ashley Audra ...

A punchy page-turner about motherhood, sacrifice and the huge expectations that are forced on to women

Thought-provoking and gripping, this is worthy of all the praise coming its way

The Whispers is spellbinding, a shimmering, visceral ride through the dark side of family, of community, of womanhood and mothering. Nobody delves as deep into the guts of motherhood as Ashley Audra ...

A punchy page-turner about motherhood, sacrifice and the huge expectations that are forced on to women

Books by Ashley Audrain

Articles featuring Ashley Audrain

We read Ashley Audrain’s The Push – and we have questions

Audiobooks everyone should listen to, as chosen by our readers

‘I didn’t think anyone would read my novel – let alone my parents!’: 21 Questions with Ashley Audrain

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