What Kind of Mother?

by Sheila Norton

A year ago, I kissed my three-year-old goodbye before a work trip and promised I’d be home before she knew it.

I wasn’t.

When I went missing, everyone searched for me but eventually they had to admit the worst: that I was dead.

But now I’m back, finally home after surviving the unthinkable, and nothing fits anymore. My family treat me differently. And my daughter Phoebe, she looks up at me with those eyes that mean the world, and sees… a stranger.

I survived a nightmare no one can understand. But coming home may be the most dangerous part of all.

A gripping and unputdownable novel about the secrets that we keep and the lies we believe. Perfect for readers of Jodi Picoult.

306 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 11, 2026

About the author

Winner of the RoNAs 'Christmas and Winter Seasonal Award' novel, 2022, with 'Winter at Cliff's End Cottage'.

I live in Chelmsford, UK, with my husband Alan. We have three married daughters and six grandchildren. I've been writing ever since I was a little girl, and finally achieved my lifelong ambition to have a novel published, with the acceptance in 2002 of 'The Trouble With Ally'. Prior to this, I'd been having short stories published in women's magazines for about ten years.

My most recent books are stories set in the English county of Devon, and most include pets in the story! They are feel-good contemporary fiction.

I worked for most of my life as a medical secretary. I now write full-time. I like to relax by reading, walking,swimming, and seeing my family and friends.

I am passionate about my writing and love to hear from my readers. I am also happy to give talks to writers' groups and others, and book signings, in my local area.

Reviews

[Kristina Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the ARC (Advance Reader Copy) of What Kind of Mother? by Sheila Norton. This was an emotional family drama and it is all about control. There are secrets and trust issues in the telling of this story of motherhood. Sophie (the mother) needs to rebuild her fractured life. It kept my interest. I gave it 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars.

[Clarabelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I ended up reading What Kind of Mother? and overall I’d rate it 3/5.

I will say the book is engaging and definitely has that “I need to keep going” feeling. The emotional tone works, and the author does a good job building tension around Sophia’s situation and what happens after she comes back. There are also moments that genuinely made me feel for her, especially when the whole truth starts coming together. It’s the kind of story that sticks with you after you finish.

That said, I couldn’t ignore how frustrating Sophia could be. I found her way too naive about Nathan and how he was manipulating her. Like… I’m sorry, but there were points where it felt so obvious that she should’ve seen the pattern. It almost got annoying because it wasn’t just “she didn’t know,” it was more like she kept getting pulled in despite everything. At times I felt like I wanted to scream at her to pay attention—because hello??? The signs were there.

So yeah, the story has a lot going for it, but Sophia’s blind trust in Nathan really dragged it down for me. If you like emotional, suspenseful mother/child relationship stories, you’ll probably appreciate it—but just know that the character decisions can feel overly frustrating at times.

[VickydpBooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you enjoy emotional, suspenseful stories filled with secrets, family drama and unexpected twists, this is a novel that will pull you in from the very beginning.

The story follows a mother who leaves her three-year-old daughter, Phoebe, before a work trip, promising that she’ll be home soon. But she never returns. After a year of searching, her family is forced to accept the heartbreaking possibility that she is dead.

Then, against all expectations, she comes home.

Having survived an unimaginable nightmare, she should finally be safe, but returning to the life she left behind proves to be far more complicated than she could have imagined. Her family no longer treats her the same way, and the most heartbreaking part is seeing the way her daughter looks at her — not as the mother she remembers, but as a stranger.

What makes this story particularly compelling is the question of what happens after the nightmare. Survival should be the end of the story, but here it feels like the beginning of another one. The emotional impact of a mother trying to reconnect with her child, while also dealing with everything she has endured, gives the novel a deeply heartbreaking edge.

There’s also an underlying sense of unease throughout the story. Just when you think coming home should mean safety, the book keeps you questioning whether the past has really been left behind. Secrets, unanswered questions and the possibility that not everything is as it seems create plenty of suspense and keep the pages turning.

Overall, this sounds like a gripping and emotional read that combines family drama with psychological suspense. Heartbreaking, tense and full of secrets, it’s likely to appeal to readers who enjoy the emotional storytelling of Jodi Picoult, Kate Hewitt and Susan Lewis.

A powerful story about survival, motherhood, family and the frightening realisation that sometimes coming home doesn’t mean you’re finally safe. 💔

[Lupe Farkas · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Imagine kissing your three year old daughter goodbye, leaving for what should be a short work trip… and coming home a year later to discover that, to her, you are now a stranger.

That was the part of What Kind of Mother? that stayed with me.

At first, the premise sounds like a missing-person mystery: a woman disappears, her family eventually accepts that she must be dead, and then one year later she walks back into their lives.
But Sheila Norton takes the story somewhere much more interesting. Coming home is not the happy ending. It is where everything becomes complicated.

Because how do you return to being a mother when your child has learned to live without you? How do you explain something that sounds impossible even when it happened to you? And perhaps most painfully, what happens when the people who desperately wanted you back finally have you standing in front of them… and aren't completely sure they believe you?

I really liked that the book focuses so much on trust, trauma, and motherhood rather than relying only on the mystery of what happened during that missing year. There is suspense, and there are plenty of moments that make you question what you think you know, but the emotional consequences are what give the story its weight.

The title is perfect because What Kind of Mother? becomes a question with far more than one possible answer.

This is an emotional family drama with mystery running through it, rather than a straightforward psychological thriller, and I think readers who enjoy complicated families, secrets and stories about the sometimes messy reality of motherhood will find a lot here.

Thank you to NetGalley, Boldwood Books and Sheila Norton for the advance copy. As always, my review is honest, independent and entirely my own.

[Louise Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A year ago, I kissed my three-year-old goodbye before a work trip and promised I'd be home before she knew it.

I wasn't. When I went missing everyone searched for me, but eventually they had to admit the worst: that I was dead. But now I'm back, finally home after surviving the unthinkable, and nothing fits anymore. My family treats me differently. And my daughter Phoebe, she looks at me with those eyes that mean the world, and sees.... a stranger.

I survived a nightmare no one can understand. But coming home may be the most dangerous part of all.

Sophie returns to her family after suffering from amnesia when she had an accident on a work trip to New York. She is trying to settle back into her life with her partner Nathan and their daughter Phoebe.

This story covers coercive control. The story is told in the then and now format. The characters are well-developed, but I did not like Nathan. I think this story could have been much better. I felt there was something missing, the story had no real energy to it, it felt a bit flat.

Published 11th August 2026

I would like to thank #NetGalley #BoldwoodBooks and the author #SheilaNorton for my ARC of #WhatKindOfMother in exchange for an honest review.

[Monica Mil-Homens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you so much Netgalley for this :)

I just finished this ARC and honestly... I was hoping another thing.

In the beginning i was completely invested and kept changing my mind about what was really going on. It definitely knows how to keep you reading because I needed answers.
But once I finished, I started thinking about the plot and realised I had a lot of questions. There are quite a few plot holes and some things that simply did not make sense to me.

The biggest one was the whole situation with her “accident leading to her disapeareance” and being too ashamed to tell her mum and dad. The story makes it feel like this is some huge, shocking secret, but i was expecting something far more serious or unbelievable considering how much importance was placed on her not telling them. To me, that particular motivation just did not work.

I still enjoyed the reading experience, though, but i guess it needed a little more love.
@bibliotecamil_insta

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Spoiler alert"
Sophie leaves her young daughter with her mother in the UK to work in New York for a month but is bullied and ends up walking out and getting drunk with Nathan who she met in the pub and telling him a different name.
After falling down she ends up with amnesia in hospital, Nathan takes her home to recover but it's a year of coercive control that she gets her memory back and so they both head back to the UK to see her family.
Nathan is still controlling Sophie telling her not to say why she disappeared as they'll think she has mental problems and she'll never get her daughter back.
I found the story unbelievable and you never find out why Nathan is like that, as he easily gives up.
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC and I give my honest review.

[Carol Werner Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

What Kind of Mother?
by Sheila Norton
Pub Date: Aug 11 2026

Sheila Norton has outdone herself with What Kind of Mother?. This book completely gripped me from the very first page. The premise of a mother returning home after a traumatic year-long disappearance is agonizingly tense, and Norton handles the psychological aftermath beautifully. Watching the protagonist try to rebuild her life while her own family doubts her story—and her daughter Phoebe treats her like a stranger—absolutely broke my heart. It is an emotionally powerful, twisty exploration of the unbreakable bond between a mother and child.

I'd like to thank #WhatKindofMother #NetGalley and #BoldWoodBooks for providing me an E-ARC of this book.

[Sarah Bloomfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall I enjoyed this family drama which sees Sophie returning to her childhood home and her family after suffering from amnesia due to an accident she had in New York. She settles back into her home town with her partner Nathan and attempts to reconnect with her young daughter Phoebe but is all as it seems?

I did feel this book lacked a bit of oomph at points and that a few things could have been explored more but nonetheless I enjoyed the plot and the family dynamic.

Many thanks to netgalley, the author and the publisher for approving my request to read this book.

[Heidi Lynn’s BookReviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

First, I want to thank Sheila Norton, Boldwood Books and NetGalley for providing me with this book so I can bring you this review!

Sheila Norton has a way of touching my heart with her books either through her storylines or the characters themselves. In What Kind of Mother she went outside of the box with her storytelling to throw a different twist on a missing person’s case that will pull hard on your heart strings-big time!
I absolutely loved how she was able to combine my two fave genre’s into one and keep me entertained throughout the whole book! In my eyes it is one of her best!

Instantly, Sheila engulfed my attention within the first few sentences in her prologue that starts out 13 months earlier to when the story begins. An empathetic person I am, I was instantly worried about what was going on with this person whom I was reading about-not that I knew who she was. She seemed so scared and waves of panic were hitting her and I was scared for her and needed to know why!! Where was she? Why couldn’t she remember where she was? Plus, who was this random strange guy that was there with her?? What really happened to her to make her got into this state of confusion? I just had to keep reading to find out!! WOW what a way to start out a book!!

Sheila jumps from one juicy story to the next one that I found fascinating with a little bit of a twist to it. She brings you a long awaited Mother/ Daughter reunion that has been way over due. For you can just imagine the emotional overload that had to be seeing your four years old. How would you react to the news she was back?? Pick up Sheila Norton’s What Kind of Mother and find out today!

[Lyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a story about coercive control, and it was quite clever how Nathan manipulated Sophie. I enjoyed reading about Sophie’s growing confidence, her relationship with her daughter and her parents, but felt that the book lacked punch. We never find out Nathan’s motivation, and I kept waiting for something significant to happen or be revealed, so this fell a bit short for me. It was more a slow grind of gradual changes.
Thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for my chance to read this.

[Sheila · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a free copy of, What Kind of Mother, by Sheila Norton, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book chapters are a little confusing with chapters from, Now and then, and Sophie and Anna. I did not care for Nathan at all, there is no reason for the way he is. This book was an ok read, nothing really thrilling happened.

[Emily West · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this book really boring. Nothing happened at all. I thought that there would be suspense and drama but it was just some internal ramblings of someone who had lost her memory and refound her family.

[Valerie McGurk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sophie leaves her young daughter with her mum when she is assigned to a work trip in New York. Unfortunately things take a turn for the worse. As Sophie regains her identity she gets reunited with her family. An engaging page turner that kept me gripped until the end.

[Carol Drinkwater · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant family drama for the beginning until the great ending. I have no hesitation in recommending this book.

[Annette Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

What Kind of Mother by Sheila Norton is an emotional novel about motherhood, telling the story of two mother- daughter relationships in rather unusual circumstances.
When Sophie left her toddler daughter Phoebe with her mum while she went on a work trip to the USA she only expected to be gone for a few weeks, but a freak accident caused her to lose her memory and it took her over a year to figure out who she was, with the help of a kind stranger, Nathan, who becomes something more. Once she remembers who she is and who she left behind she is desperate to go home to England, and even though she knows reuniting with her family will be complicated, she hopes that with time things will go back to how they were before. Meanwhile her mother is faced with a storm of mixed emotions, joy that her daughter is alive and back home, angry at her for disappearing for so long without contact and fear because she is worried for what this will mean for Phoebe, and how she will handle everything. As they slowly start to rebuild their relationship and Sophie regains some of her independence, her relationship with Nathan comes under pressure and starts to fragment, leaving Sophie with even more questions to try to answer.
While I enjoyed the family aspects of this story I did find it a little too implausible to be really enjoyable, and there was little about it that surprised me. Nathan was such an unlikable character, and rather one dimensional , which made it hard for me to believe that Sophie put up with him for so long. The strongest part was seeing Sophie regain her independence and rebuild her fractured family relationships.
I read an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

[mrs shelley d white · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good story .

[Barb Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book captured my interest quickly. Sophie goes to NY for a one-month assignment from her hotel. She leaves her little girl with her mother but is declared missing. She has an accident leaving her with amnesia and Nathan, the man she was with when the accident happened. A year passes and she finally starts to remember. When she returns to England, her mother is understandably angry when she can't explain what happened and where she was. Her daughter Phoebe looks at her like a stranger. This a story of trauma, family and what happens when trust is broken. I received an advanced reader copy of this book, and this is my honest review.

[Gaye Teather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book more as it went along. It felt a little bit slow at the start but once it got going I was eager to read on. I liked that the chapters were narrated alternately by Sophie and her mum, Anna. There were times I wanted to shout at Sophie when she wouldn't tell her mother what had happened in New York as it just dragged things out and served no purpose to hold that information back. Nathan was a mystery that I felt I had figured out from early on. Overall I found the book engrossing and entertaining and although the ending was satisfactory there were a few loose ends that could just allow for a possible sequel. My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an early copy which it was my pleasure to read and review.

[Shirley · Rating 4 out of 5]

What Kind of Mother by Sheila Norton is another great read from an author whose writing style I always enjoy. She has a wonderful way of creating believable characters and drawing you into their lives, making it hard to put the book down. An engaging and emotional story that kept me turning the pages. A well-deserved 4 stars!

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

“But regrets don’t change the past”. I went into this ARC knowing it would be one to draw me in just from the book summary and it did just that. The beginning gripped me, the middle slowed down a bit and I wish the plot had thickened a bit earlier however, the end was the twist the book promised. A 3.5 star for me!!