Such a Good Mother

1

December

The boy s gold-­and-­maroon cap disappears around the corner. Jacq and I follow it and the squeak­squeak of his brogues as he turns down yet another dark, wood-­paneled corridor. I m trying my best to be more sure-­footed, anticipate the turns ahead, ones I should know are coming. This was once my old high school and I must have been this way hundreds of times before, but either I ve blocked my memories in the near twenty years since I last set foot inside this building, or everything about the place is as different as they say it is. I begin to wonder, if I was left alone here right now, whether I d know how to get back out again.

My sister-­in-­law tracks the fast-­walking boy, oblivious to my queasy disorientation. You ll be walking miles tonight! Jacq calls behind him, but the boy doesn t seem to register her attempt at light­heartedness as he comes to an abrupt stop in front of a set of double doors.

This is the registration zone. Welcome again to The Woolf Academy. We hope tonight helps you find the most appropriate setting to educate your child. The boy can t be more than ten, but he sounds like a gentleman from the 1940s. He has what people say is the Woolf polish. The boys and girls who go here emerge with the combination of manners and confidence, not to mention grades, they d normally achieve only from attending some ancient public school, not a free school that s been open only a few years. He shakes my hand, then Jacq s.

Cheers, little man. You like it here, then? Jacq asks, causing the boy to blink and look about him nervously.

The Woolf is the top-­performing school in the region. It strives to instill confidence and aspiration in every pupil. The boy pauses, then nods at the ceiling with his eyes wide open, before snapping them shut, as if he s trapping the words he needs to remember from somewhere above him. Attending this school is a privilege.

Is that so? Jacq sends raised eyebrows my way, the kind that

Helen Monks Takhar is the author of the novel Precious You. She is also joint managing director of the production company Second Generation with her husband, screenwriter and executive producer Danny Takhar. Helen worked as a journalist, copywriter, and magazine editor after graduating from Cambridge University. She began her career writing for financial trade newspapers before contributing to UK national newspapers including The Times and The Observer. She lives in North London with her husband and two daughters.

I picked up Such a Good Mother and was absolutely transfixed. What mother hasn t considered doing absolutely anything to get into a circle of friends who can make her life more bearable and give her children access to the best things in life? I completely identified with Monks Takhar s heroine, Rose . . . until I couldn t believe what I was reading. Mothers and hustlers can be a lethal combination and the perfect recipe for a novel to keep you up all night. Amanda Eyre Ward, New York Times bestselling author of The Jetsetters

Wickedly paced and devilishly clever, Such a Good Mother showcases the terrifying lengths some parents will go to secure privileges for their children. A delicious and addictive read that goes straight for the jugular of modern motherhood. Lindsay Cameron, author of Just One Look

Everyone wants to join The Circle. But is it all that it s cracked up to be? Who is conning who? And can one woman outplay them all? If you re looking for smart, suspenseful prose, look no further. Helen Monks Takhar is now on my favorite list of authors. . . . Exceptional, taut, and emotional storytelling in Such a Good Mother. Georgina Cross, author of Nanny Needed

Fiendishly entertaining . . . A suspenseful and unsettling cautionary tale. Monks Takhar remains a writer to watch. Publishers Weekly