Motherthing is suitable for readers 16 and above.
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Abby has mommy issues. Her own mommy issues. Her husband’s mommy issues. She wants to be a mom but dreads other moms. And when her mom-in-law dies, she is scared the old lady is haunting the house and trying to drive her husband to death, so that mommy and son can be together in the afterlife, while dashing Abby’s dreams to be a future mom.
So, yes, Motherthing by Ainslie Hogarth is a “domestic horror novel,” where the horror lies in Abby’s fears, anxiety, and sudden isolation from her loving husband Ralph, as the latter descends into a dark depression after his mother’s death.
Motherthing opens with the grisly death of Laura, Ralph’s mother, who continues to haunt the couple even after her death. While Abby tries to make Ralph’s grief easier, she reflects on her own bleak childhood. Her memories reveal a childhood shaped by a single mother fixated on chasing the next boyfriend, a woman who consistently put new men ahead of her own daughter.
There’s just no greater feeling in the world than being loved by a man. By someone sensible. Someone who matters. It makes you feel legitimate in a way. You have to be real for a man to love you, you know? Does that make sense? Pass me my smokes, sweetie, thank you. And the lighter. Click. Glow. Burn.
There are different ways to interpret the title, but for Abby, a “Motherthing” is something that serves as a substitute for one’s mother. In Abby’s case, it’s an old couch in her house, which gave her comfort when she was a lonely child, something always there for her, like a mother would be.
So, this is a sad, weird novel, which explores the kind of power “motherthings” have on us. The story eerily depicts the way parents can mould children and both Abby and Ralph are shaped by the way their mothers treated them. As a horror fan, I was expecting more supernatural spooks, but those were scarce.
For Ralph, everything that reminds him of his mother, the television, a forgotten piano in the basement, the house they live in, anything carrying memory of his mother, is a motherthing. And Abby needs to fight Ralph’s motherthings to reclaim his love. Abby’s devotion for Ralph is obsessive, strange, and borders on terrifying. She would go to any length to have his attention and affection, and she is not going to lose to her dead mother-in-law.
Even though it took me over a month to finish ‘Motherthing’, Ainslie Hogarth’s style of writing is slightly reminiscent of the stream-of-consciousness technique, without being too fragmented and random. Readers are invited into the twisted mind of Abby, who is constantly thinking of bizarre things, which can spark discomfort in the reader.
For most parts, ‘Motherthing’ is about how Abby desperately trying to pull Ralph back to her. A major sub-plot explores Abby’s professional life as a care worker for the elderly, where she is overtly attached to one lady and sees herself as the woman’s mother figure. Her professional and private lives collide in a terrifying unexpected way.
The 16th chapter offers a slight break from the doom-and-gloom of Abby’s mind, with a flashback of how Abby met Ralph at a bar. They instantly click and author Ainslie Hogarth gives them a ‘meet-cute’ that way more adorable than many romance novels.
Abby and Ralph are a happy enough couple, that’s until Laura emotionally blackmails her son into moving back with her. Abby does hope to build a loving relationship with Laura, but those feelings aren’t reciprocal. In life, Laura treats her terribly, and in death, her influence only gets worse!
The climax feels slightly jarring, it’s not something you’d see coming, but it’s not wholly satisfying either. Regardless, this novel makes for an interesting read.
Rating: 4 on 5. ‘Motherthing’ is on Kindle Unlimited.
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