The Push: A GMA Book Club Pick (A Novel)

4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars | 46,493 ratings

Price: 15.75

Last update: 12-17-2024


About this item

A Good Morning America Book Club Pick | A New York Times best seller!

"Utterly addictive." (Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the Train)

"Hooks you from the very first page and will have you racing to get to the end." (Good Morning America)

A tense, pause-resisting psychological drama about the making and breaking of a family - and a woman whose experience of motherhood is nothing at all what she hoped for - and everything she feared

Blythe Connor is determined that she will be the warm, comforting mother to her new baby Violet that she herself never had.

But in the thick of motherhood's exhausting early days, Blythe becomes convinced that something is wrong with her daughter - she doesn't behave like most children do.

Or is it all in Blythe's head? Her husband, Fox, says she's imagining things. The more Fox dismisses her fears, the more Blythe begins to question her own sanity, and the more we begin to question what Blythe is telling us about her life as well.

Then their son Sam is born - and with him, Blythe has the blissful connection she'd always imagined with her child. Even Violet seems to love her little brother. But when life as they know it is changed in an instant, the devastating fall-out forces Blythe to face the truth.

The Push is a tour de force you will listen in a sitting, an utterly immersive novel that will challenge everything you think you know about motherhood, about what we owe our children, and what it feels like when women are not believed.


Top reviews from the United States

  • Bobbie King
    5.0 out of 5 stars Uniquely Interesting
    Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2024
    The book was rather interesting in that I thought it was about one thing in the beginning and midway through figured out it was about something different. Some in our book club thought it had a surprise ending. I personally figured out the ending.
  • RSW Kindle Customer
    4.0 out of 5 stars 3.5 Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2021
    I rated this family drama <b>3.5 Stars</b> rounded to 4 for Goodreads purposes.

    <b>SUMMARY</b>
    This family drama follows three generations of dysfunctional women who have trouble connecting to their daughters. First Etta, who is broken hearted by the loss of her true love. Soon after his tragic death, she realizes she is pregnant and gives birth to Cecilia. She finds a very nice man who loves her and Cecilia, and remarries, but she doesn’t love him, or Cecilia for that matter. She never recovered from the loss of her beloved husband and is barely able to function in life. On her best day, she is neglectful and gives little to Cecilia. On her worst day...

    Next is Cecilia. She is wounded from her childhood but is determined to forge a life for herself in the city. Not long after her arrival, she meets a nice man, not long after that, she discovers she is pregnant. She gives birth to Blythe, she didn’t want a husband or child at that point in her life and she really has no idea how to even be a mother. As the pattern repeats itself, she is neglectful but, at least she’s a tiny bit better than her own mother...

    Then Blythe. The majority of the story focuses on Blythe. Mainly written as a long letter to her husband, Blythe recalls the beginning of their relationship, some incidents of her childhood and their journey into parenthood. She dissects their relationship, what was wrong and what was right about it. She speaks painfully honesty about being initiated into motherhood, the pain of childbirth, having a very needy infant and a defiant toddler. She pulls no punches and lays out all her insecurities and self doubt. As she and her husband Fox become parents, their marriage changes and they find themselves at odds with each other, on opposite sides of almost everything. To make matters worse, Blythe and her daughter never seem connect. Violet seems to dislike Blythe from day one! And, as Violet grows older, Blythe begins to worry that something with Violet is not quite right. Fox absolutely disagrees and thinks something is not quite right with Blythe. Can their family survive?

    <b>WHAT I LOVED</b>
    This book was written with such honest emotion that it sucked me right in. I remember the pain of child birth, the exhausted state I existed in while caring for a constantly crying new born and, the feelings of inadequacy as a new mother. It was so raw and real! Although I never felt like my baby didn’t love me, I could get what she was experiencing.

    The story lines of the three women and the pattern of dysfunction which followed was heartbreaking. There were several times, particularly in Blythe’s story where just so darn sad, t brought me to tears.

    The actual plot was fascinating, but hard to read at times.

    <b>WHAT I DIDN’T LOVE</b>
    There was a lot of tragic sadness, just so hard to swollen. The ending left things a little too open for me, I just really
    Ike a total wrap up at the end. This book, while it had quite a bit of wrap up, I would have Ike one final sentence that explained the last scenes,

    <b>OVERALL</b>
    At the end, after reading about sad things, I was very disappointed about the last page or two. The last book i read left the ending very up in the air and when this one did a little bit too, I was angry. I read his whole sad book and I wanted a more thorough wrap up. But that’s just me. Everyone else cannot stop raving about it so it’s probably me and my obsession for overly detailed Scooby Doo ending where nothing is left to chance. I would recommend it to anyone who doesn’t mind a bit of sadness and an ending, which does have resolution, just not as much as I needed.
  • Krysta
    5.0 out of 5 stars Page turner
    Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2024
    I absolutely loved this book and had a hard time putting it down! So very well written and would love for the story to go on in a new book.
  • Amazon Customer
    3.0 out of 5 stars Confusing at first and predictable at the end.
    Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2023
    As others have pointed out the first few chapters are very confusing. In addition the story jumps back and forth between generations. I prefer a linier story line. There seemed to be no or very little compassion in any but the main character. Doesn't really make you want to care about anyone. Can anyone explain to me why the incident with the clothes in the closet was so funny to the main characters? I felt sad for them. I think the ending is a case of what I call "reached the page limit" syndrome. I believe the "modern day" authors are contracted for a certain number of pages and when they get close to the magic number they just end the book. That's after lots of un-necessary descriptions, characters, and dialog to get to the page limit. The good parts are the short chapters, "clean" language, and no long drawn out descriptions. The story had a lot of unfulfilled potential.
  • Katherine Y
    5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping psychological drama about a mother who doesn't bond with her daughter
    Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2021
    If you’re in the mood for a deeply disturbing psychological drama about a motherhood experience gone awry, this is your book. The principal character, Blythe, comes from a line of mothers who have been distant, neglectful, and even abusive to their daughters. Blythe’s grandmother’s domestic strains were the catalyst for her suicide. Blythe’s mother left the family home when Blythe was eleven without a backward glance. When Blythe met Fox in college, she finally found someone who became home to her. They had an idyllic relationship that centered on just the two of them. They eventually married, and Fox pursued his career as an architect. Blythe, who wanted to become a writer, stayed at home. Inside, she was always ambivalent about being a mother but finally agreed with Fox that it was time they started a family.
    She and Fox became the parents of Violet, a baby girl who, from her first breaths, was anything but easy. While Fox was at work, Violet would cry all day, refuse comfort, and resist her mother at every turn. Blythe began to use headphones to block out the crying and to write. One day Fox came home and discovered that the baby had been crying for a solid hour and a half. From that point on, Blythe and Fox’s relationship began to fracture. Blythe became convinced that something was wrong with her daughter. Fox thought the problem was Blythe, who had never really bonded with Violet. When Violet was four, Blythe became pregnant again. A nightmare for her began to unfold, leaving her distrustful of her daughter, and questioning her sanity. The unimaginable happens, and Blythe’s dreams of a happy family are destroyed.
    The novel is gripping from page one, not only for the story it tells but for the way most of the story is told. The author, Ashley Audrain, uses a startling second-person voice, so the reader becomes Blythe, and the “you” addressed is Fox. This is a challenging style to carry off, but Audrain does it very effectively. This voice has the added advantage of closing the distance between Blythe and the reader. Of all the books I’ve read lately, this one is the most intense. It’s a perfect read for the times when you want to curl up and shut the door. Gillian Flynn and Paula Hawkins fans will enjoy this read.

    • Best Sellers in

     
     

    My Darling Girl

    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 1018
    17.05
     
     

    He Who Fights with Monsters 9: A LitRPG Adventure (He Who Fights with Monsters, Book 9)

    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 7912
    52.49
     
     

    The Poisonwood Bible

    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 16129
    21.88
     
     

    Firefly Lane: A Novel

    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 49712
    21.88
     
     

    The Diamond Eye: A Novel

    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 22396
    25.19
     
     

    Hyperion

    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 23830
    23.14
     
     

    The Wise Man's Fear: Kingkiller Chronicle, Book 2

    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 72832
    31.23
     
     

    After I Do: A Novel

    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 22197
    12.5