What do you think?
The Mum Who Got Away
Eve Gardiner is a single mum with way too much to juggle. With four kids and their dramas, a hectic job, two complicated exes, not to mention the occasional hot date, she knows her spinning plates could come crashing down at any moment.
After her first ex abandoned her and her second ex let her down, Eve has worked hard to rebuild her family’s life and now, she’s doing just fine, or so she thinks. She definitely doesn’t have the time or the energy to trust anyone else with her fragile heart.
But then eldest son Tom drops a bombshell and precocious daughter Anna is determined to make Eve see that there is a man in her life who could be absolutely perfect for her, if she could just let down her guard once again.
As the whole family reunites for a wedding, Eve’s urge to run away from it all has never been stronger. But perhaps, with a bit of courage, this is her second chance to get it all back, including the one who got away the first time...
Please note: This book was previously published as Did The Earth Move
After her first ex abandoned her and her second ex let her down, Eve has worked hard to rebuild her family’s life and now, she’s doing just fine, or so she thinks. She definitely doesn’t have the time or the energy to trust anyone else with her fragile heart.
But then eldest son Tom drops a bombshell and precocious daughter Anna is determined to make Eve see that there is a man in her life who could be absolutely perfect for her, if she could just let down her guard once again.
As the whole family reunites for a wedding, Eve’s urge to run away from it all has never been stronger. But perhaps, with a bit of courage, this is her second chance to get it all back, including the one who got away the first time...
Please note: This book was previously published as Did The Earth Move
334 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 8, 2025
About the author
Carmen Reid
42 books244 followersCarmen was born and brought up in a chilly and windy corner of Scotland in the depths of the countryside.
This may explain her lifelong phobia of cows and abiding interest in cities, department stores, books, the cinema and newspapers.
She is currently working on her eigth novel for grown-ups and her third novel for teenagers. Well, she likes to keep busy.
Carmen did once study English Literature at University College London, but, ignoring everything she’d learned, she spent most of her 20s working as a local, regional and then national newspaper reporter.
Knowing deep down that she was supposed to be an author not a journo, she left her day job to have a baby and write her first novel. (Hey, and just four sleepless, penniless years later it was published!)
Although there is a corner of her heart that will always belong to London (property developers welcome) she now lives in Glasgow, Scotland, with her husband, Thomas, and two children, Sam and Claudie, plus Jimmy the (lunatic) Jack Russell and Clive, Orangey and Gorcha, the fish.
Fortunately her hobbies are cooking, cleaning, arguing about whose turn it is to walk the dog, clean the fish tank, take out the rubbish, do the laundry... and so on.
This may explain her lifelong phobia of cows and abiding interest in cities, department stores, books, the cinema and newspapers.
She is currently working on her eigth novel for grown-ups and her third novel for teenagers. Well, she likes to keep busy.
Carmen did once study English Literature at University College London, but, ignoring everything she’d learned, she spent most of her 20s working as a local, regional and then national newspaper reporter.
Knowing deep down that she was supposed to be an author not a journo, she left her day job to have a baby and write her first novel. (Hey, and just four sleepless, penniless years later it was published!)
Although there is a corner of her heart that will always belong to London (property developers welcome) she now lives in Glasgow, Scotland, with her husband, Thomas, and two children, Sam and Claudie, plus Jimmy the (lunatic) Jack Russell and Clive, Orangey and Gorcha, the fish.
Fortunately her hobbies are cooking, cleaning, arguing about whose turn it is to walk the dog, clean the fish tank, take out the rubbish, do the laundry... and so on.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 29, 2026
There is something about Eve that made me root for her from the beginning. She is a fighter, but the book never pretends that being strong means finding everything easy.
Eve is a single mum raising four children, two older and two younger, while trying to keep on top of work, the house, the bills and all the everyday demands of family life. The novel captures particularly well the physical and emotional exhaustion of being the person everyone depends on, while having almost nobody to depend on yourself. The official synopsis also places this constant juggling of four children, work and two complicated exes at the centre of Eve’s story.
Money is another part of her reality. There are bills to pay and four children to provide for, and Eve has to keep making the numbers work. I liked seeing these ordinary pressures included because they make her life and her exhaustion feel believable.
Her loneliness affected me too. Her mother has died, her father is distant and shows little interest in his grandchildren, and her only sister lives away and is barely present in her everyday life. Add to this the betrayal and abandonment she has experienced in her relationships, and there is a strong sense that Eve has been left to hold her family together largely on her own.
What I liked most was that the book allows her to be tired. She loves her children, but love does not remove the exhaustion, financial worries, frustration or occasional desire to escape from everything for a while. In fact, Eve’s urge to run away is an important part of the story.
Despite these heavier themes, this is still a warm, funny and easy listen. There is family chaos, humour, romance and the possibility of second chances. I enjoyed that balance. The audiobook is nine hours long and narrated by Julie Maisey.
I liked Eve a lot. Not because she handles everything perfectly, but because she keeps going, adapts and fights for herself and her children even when she feels completely alone.
A lovely, heartfelt listen about motherhood, loneliness, resilience and finding room for yourself when everybody else seems to need a piece of you.
@livros100fim
Eve is a single mum raising four children, two older and two younger, while trying to keep on top of work, the house, the bills and all the everyday demands of family life. The novel captures particularly well the physical and emotional exhaustion of being the person everyone depends on, while having almost nobody to depend on yourself. The official synopsis also places this constant juggling of four children, work and two complicated exes at the centre of Eve’s story.
Money is another part of her reality. There are bills to pay and four children to provide for, and Eve has to keep making the numbers work. I liked seeing these ordinary pressures included because they make her life and her exhaustion feel believable.
Her loneliness affected me too. Her mother has died, her father is distant and shows little interest in his grandchildren, and her only sister lives away and is barely present in her everyday life. Add to this the betrayal and abandonment she has experienced in her relationships, and there is a strong sense that Eve has been left to hold her family together largely on her own.
What I liked most was that the book allows her to be tired. She loves her children, but love does not remove the exhaustion, financial worries, frustration or occasional desire to escape from everything for a while. In fact, Eve’s urge to run away is an important part of the story.
Despite these heavier themes, this is still a warm, funny and easy listen. There is family chaos, humour, romance and the possibility of second chances. I enjoyed that balance. The audiobook is nine hours long and narrated by Julie Maisey.
I liked Eve a lot. Not because she handles everything perfectly, but because she keeps going, adapts and fights for herself and her children even when she feels completely alone.
A lovely, heartfelt listen about motherhood, loneliness, resilience and finding room for yourself when everybody else seems to need a piece of you.
@livros100fim
March 9, 2025
See 76% 🫣 reviewed in wrong place 🫣🫣
July 4, 2025
3.5 stars, rounded up. This is my first book from this author, and it's a promising start. Looking for more.
December 30, 2025
My last book to finish off the year and it was a Doozey, really had to force myself to finish. I just found it a bit boring.
January 10, 2026
Good reasd!
July 19, 2026
4*. I really liked this book. The characters were so well written. Good book.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews