Laurie Elizabeth Flynn's Till Death Do Us Part is part of our August Summer Reading List, and is up for giveaway (along with the rest of the list) until the end of August.

Head over to our giveaways page for your chance to win.

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As an author and mother of four young children, I find myself particularly drawn to books that are unafraid to explore motherhood in all of its complex, wonderful messiness. I eagerly seek out stories that reflect on varied parenting experiences—both ones that I can personally relate to, and ones that show an alternate reality than my own. Mothers are inherently hungry for connection, and in my reading life, I’ve been lucky enough to come across several incredible Canadian-authored books that offer this sense of connection and community within their pages. These nine books, while different in style and tone, have kept me company in the throes of early motherhood’s late nights, early mornings, and everything in between. Whether you’re looking for something tense, terrifying, poignant, or emotional, there is something on this list for everyone.

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The Push and The Whispers, by Ashley Audrain

Ashley Audrain is so masterful when it comes to writing about motherhood that I’ve included both of her novels on this list. The Push immerses the reader fully in the depths of new motherhood—a motherhood that, for Blythe Connor, isn’t at all what she expected. Blythe struggles to connect with her daughter, Violet, and feels that something is very wrong with her little girl. But her instincts are dismissed, even after unimaginable tragedy ensues. Told in hauntingly beautiful prose, this is the depiction of a family torn apart—and a woman nobody believes until it’s too late.

In The Whispers, there are four different points of view—three mothers of varying ages, and one woman who desperately wants to become a mother. The perfect veneer of a suburban family is exposed after Whitney Loverly’s ten-year-old son falls from his bedroom window following a neighbourhood party hosted by the Loverlys—a party where everyone heard Whitney screaming at her son. What really happened that night? A twisting, winding story that expertly weaves each woman’s perspective to create an intricate tapestry of relationships and intentions. Ashley Audrain is unafraid to show the dark side of motherhood through her characters, and I’ll eagerly devour anything she writes.

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Woman on the Edge, by Samantha M. Bailey

Be warned: this is a devour-in-one-sitting, on-the-edge-of-your-seat kind of story. I was captivated by the pitch alone: one woman hands her baby to another woman on a subway platform, before jumping into the path of an oncoming train. What would possess someone to do this, and what exactly is the connection between the women? Morgan and Nicole are strangers—Morgan, who has desperately wanted to become a mother, and Nicole, a successful CEO struggling with new motherhood. But before handing Morgan her baby, Nicole said Morgan’s name, and suddenly, Morgan finds herself a suspect in Nicole’s death. She quickly finds herself thrust into Nicole’s life, and needs to figure out the truth—before she’s framed for murder. Was Nicole suffering from postpartum depression, or was she in some kind of danger… and is Morgan now in danger too? Chilling, terrifying, and almost unbearably suspenseful, Woman on the Edge plumbs the depths of how far a mother will go to protect her child.

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Hold My Girl, by Charlene Carr

I love books that offer a unique perspective on motherhood and what makes a mother, and in her debut novel, Charlene Carr does exactly this. Hold My Girl centres around two women, Katherine and Tess, who both undergo IVF at the same clinic. Katherine gives birth to a beautiful baby girl, while Tess’s daughter is tragically stillborn. Tess spirals after her devastating loss, losing her marriage and plodding along at a dead-end job; contrarily, Katherine seemingly has everything—although her daughter’s pale complexion has left her with nagging doubts she tries to ignore. But after the fertility clinic reveals that the women’s eggs were switched, Katherine’s life starts to fall apart, while Tess feels hopeful for the first time since losing her daughter. A battle ensues over baby Rose, and questions are probed with sensitivity and nuance. What makes a mother? With dual narration between Katherine and Tess, readers will be able to see both sides. A brave, complex story of infertility, loss, grief, and women speaking up about their struggles.

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Dandelion, by Jamie Chai Yun Liew

Written in singularly beautiful, poignant prose, Dandelion tells the story of Lily, a new mother fixated on finding out the truth about her own mother, Swee Hua, who walked away from her family when Lily was only eleven years old. Lily ventures from BC to Southeast Asia to find out more about her mother, and herself in the process. An intricate, tender, brilliantly woven story about the way a mother imprints on the lives of her children. Through Lily’s quest, Jamie Chai Yun Liew explores truths about community, identity, migration, and displacement. A book that will stay with readers—one that is both heartbreaking and exquisite in its complicated portrayal of motherhood.

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And Then She Fell, by Alicia Elliott

One of the most creative and inventive novels about motherhood I’ve read, Alicia Elliott’s debut should be required reading. In this genre-bending, non-linear account, Alice, an Indigenous Mohawk woman, has recently become a mother to baby Dawn. She’s married to a white man and has moved away from the reserve where she grew up to an affluent Toronto neighbourhood, and struggles to connect with her child. Alice is a writer who feels drawn to write a modern retelling of the Haudenosaunee creation story, but finds her mind spiraling into what those around her are eager to classify as postpartum depression and mental illness. What follows is a creeping, claustrophobic descent, both mind-bending and supernatural. Alicia Elliott expertly tackles racism, sexism, heritage, and culture in this unforgettable story.

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The Party, by Robyn Harding

Family and motherhood figure prominently in Robyn Harding’s oeuvre of books, which are all masterworks of domestic suspense. But in The Party in particular, she writes with terrifying realness about parenting teenagers. Hannah is turning sixteen, and her parents, Kim and Jeff, are throwing a small party for their perfect daughter. What could go wrong? As it turns out, everything. A horrible accident occurs at the party, followed by a lawsuit, demands for justice, and the crumbling of a family. Multiple POVs, including two mothers—Kim, and the mother of the girl injured at the party—show this multifaceted story from various angles, leaving readers with ping-ponging loyalty. Robyn is a master of pulling back the curtain on polished suburbia, and the families in The Party—and its chilling ending—will stay with readers.

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The Couple Next Door, by Shari Lapena

I can only describe this story as a mother’s worst nightmare. I read it mostly late at night, while nursing my first baby, and it terrified me to my core. Anne and her husband Marco are invited to a dinner party at their child-free neighbours’ home, and when their babysitter cancels at the last minute, they decide to attend anyway and leave their infant in her crib, taking a baby monitor and promising to check on her every half an hour. But when baby Cora isn’t in her crib when they return, what follows is an agonizingly tense, twisty story where nothing is as it seems. Secrets, lies, and betrayal are rife throughout each chapter, escalating to a shocking conclusion.

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A Death At the Party, by Amy Stuart

Nadine is throwing a summer garden party for her mother’s birthday. It’s set to be a perfect, harmonious night—until Nadine finds herself standing over a dead body. How did this happen, and how does it relate to the other anniversary that the date marks—not only her mother’s birthday, but a tragedy that unfolded decades ago? Set over the course of one day, but flashing back to a narrative that unspools in the past, A Death At The Party calls to mind Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. Nadine is a woman who values appearances, even though she harbors long-kept secrets underneath her polished façade. The way Amy Stuart weaves in Nadine’s complicated relationship with her own mother, along with her relationships with her teenage children, adds depth and weight to the perpetually twisting plot. The characters in this story are connected in ways readers will never imagine until the haunting final pages.

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Learn more about Till Death Do Us Part:

A sumptuous, shocking, steamy thriller set in the vineyards of Napa Valley—what happens when the husband you thought died years ago shows up alive?

Ten years ago, June’s beloved husband drowned on their honeymoon. Josh’s body was never found. Now, a decade later, June is finally ready to move on. She owns a natural wine bar in Brooklyn and is engaged to a patient, supportive man named Kyle. She’s excited to begin a new chapter in her life, enjoy a picture-perfect wedding, and start a family.

But out of the blue, she sees…him—Josh, her first husband. Is this just a hallucination from the guilt June carries about finally moving on, or is it possible that her husband never died in the first place?

June tries to forget about this vision, chalking it up to grief and nerves, but soon enough, she stumbles across a website for a winery in Napa, and the owner in the photo is identical to her dead husband. With her upcoming wedding looming and a fiancé who’s already worried she hasn’t left her past behind, June flies to Napa for answers. But she’s not prepared for all the secrets she’s about to unlock, because everything she thought she knew about her first love is a lie.

Till Death Do Us Part is a simmering, page-turning thriller brimming with revelations, betrayals, and shocking twists.