The Second Mother: A Novel

by Jenny Milchman

Overview

"Proving Stephen King isn't the only author who can make a scenic small town in Maine feel menacing, Jenny Milchman's The Second Mother is a haunting thriller."—POPSUGAR

Opportunity: Teacher needed in one-room schoolhouse on remote island in Maine. Find the freedom in a fresh start.

Julie Weathers isn't sure if she's running away or starting over, but moving to a remote island off the coast of Maine feels right for someone with reasons to flee her old life. The sun-washed, sea-stormed speck of land seems welcoming, the lobster plentiful, and the community close and tightly knit. She finds friends in her nearest neighbor and Callum, a man who appears to be using the island for the same thing as she: escape.

But as Julie takes on the challenge of teaching the island's children, she comes to suspect that she may have traded one place shrouded in trouble for another, and she begins to wonder if the greatest danger on Mercy Island is its lost location far out to sea, or the people who live there.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781492694458
Publisher:	Sourcebooks
Publication date:	08/18/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	464
Sales rank:	282,538
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Jenny Milchman is the USA Today bestselling Mary Higgins Clark award winning author of five psychological thrillers, including Wicked River and The Second Mother. All of Jenny's novels have been chosen for the Indie Next List, and her work has been praised by the New York Times, the AP, the San Francisco Review of Books, along with inclusion on Strand Magazine's Best of 2018 and Suspense Magazine's Best of 2014, plus numerous other picks and mentions. Jenny served four years as vice president of author programs for International Thriller Writers and is a member of the Sisters in Crime speakers bureau. She gives talks and workshops all over the country on the importance of sticking to a dream, and is the founder of Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day, which is celebrated in all fifty states and on five continents. Find her on social media and at her website http://jennymilchman.com

Editorial Reviews

05/25/2020

Desperate for a fresh start after a family tragedy, Adirondacks resident Julie Weathers, the heroine of this atmospheric but character-challenged psychological thriller from Mary Higgins Clark Award–winner Milchman (Wicked River), jumps at the chance to move to a remote Maine island to teach in a one-room schoolhouse. On the first night, the house provided for her echoes with what appears to be ghostly laughter; the next evening there’s a very tangible intruder—11-year-old Peter Meyers, only scion of the powerful Hempstead clan who rule the island and its primary industry, lobster fishing. When the newcomer returns Peter, one of her future students, to his grandmother, the imposing matriarch, instead of showing gratitude, runs her off the property, setting the stage for the increasingly serious conflicts between the pair that will flare as Julie attempts to understand the gifted but troubled boy. Though Milchman laces the fairy tale setting with considerable charm and stages a pair of suspenseful aquatic life-or-death sequences, in the end her largely inconsistent, unconvincing characters capsize the story. Fans will hope for a return to form next time. Agent: Julia Kenny, Dunow, Carlson and Lerner Literary. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

"Milchman brings the suspense from a simmer to a slow boil, as "The Second Mother" becomes an agonizing exercise in escape and survival. This is the kind of book Alfred Hitchcock would have loved to adapt into a film, and for good reason." — Providence Journal

"Rich in atmosphere, expertly plotted, and populated by characters that live and breathe, The Second Mother is as much a portrait of survival and redemption as it is a harrowing deep dive into the secrets and troubles of an isolated island in Maine. Jenny Milchman writes with insight and compassion, creating a vivid sense of place, and masterfully ratcheting up the tension page by gripping page." — Lisa Unger, New York Times bestselling author of The Stranger Inside

"With her ever-masterful sense of place and astute psychological insight, Jenny Milchman takes us on a journey from the Adirondack Mountains to a remote island off the coast of Maine, and from the dark depths of grief into the light. This is a harrowing and heartrending story that earns its place in the sun." — Carol Goodman, New York Times bestselling author of The Lake of Dead Languages and The Sea of Lost Girls

"Milchman owns a Highsmith mastery of emotional depth and psychological tension for all her rich, finely detailed settings. She is a true American regionalist artist. The Second Mother sweeps us away to an eerie island of complex villains, refreshingly women, that will chill your blood while it breaks your heart." — Kalisha Buckhanon, author of Speaking of Summer and Solemn

"Jenny Milchman is one of the best suspense writers at work today, and The Second Mother is a page turner extraordinaire. Milchman takes the nostalgic daydream of teaching in a one-room schoolhouse and turns it ever so slowly into an urgent nightmare. That the story is set on a remote island off the coast of Maine — one of the most claustrophobic places a stranger can ever set foot — is an added bonus." — Paul Doiron, author of the Edgar award nominated Mike Bowditch series

"The Second Mother is a gothic unraveling of a novel, as moody and atmospheric as the isolated island on which it’s set." — Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author of Small Great Things and A Spark of Light

"The Second Mother is a tense, riveting story about a woman who flees to a remote island off the coast of Maine to escape a tragic past. Starkly beautiful, the island holds the hope of a new life and a new love but school teacher Julie Weathers finds herself facing dangers she never imagined. Told with Milchman’s stunning prose, The Second Mother is a gripping tale of obsession, secrets held close and the dark side of island life. Harrowing and addictive, I dare you to put this book down once you’ve started." — Heather Gudenkauf, New York Times bestselling author of The Weight of Silence and This is How I Lied

"When Julie arrives on a beautiful, rustic island off the coast of Maine — with a one-room schoolhouse, where people embrace a simple life — she is hoping for a chance to start over. Slowly and expertly, Milchman peels back the layers to reveal what lies beneath the idyllic surface. The Second Mother is an atmospheric thriller resonating with the weight and power of secrets. Settle in someplace comfortable, lock the doors and turn on the lights – you’re not going to want to put this one down!" — Jennifer McMahon, author of The Winter People and The Invited

"Another gripping and satisfying story of suspense [from Milchman]…The Second Mother is a beautifully written page turner." — NY Journal of Books

"While grappling with dark questions, The Second Mother will thrill and entertain readers who, like Julie, desire a summer adventure." — Booktrib

"THE SECOND MOTHER has it all... there are plenty of plot twists and surprises that include an action-filled ending that will result in some shocking revelations. Another winner from Jenny Milchman and one of the more intelligent novels in the summer of 2020." — Criminal Element

"Haunting...a classic tale of isolated-community psychological suspense." — Chronogram

"A tension-filled, provocative, nail-biting thriller that will have your heart pounding and your hands shaking as you frantically turn page after page, thirsting for more." — Suspense Magazine

"Proving Stephen King isn't the only author who can make a scenic small town in Maine feel menacing, Jenny Milchman's The Second Mother is a haunting thriller." — POPSUGAR

From the Publisher