The instinct to protect children is ingrained in decent people, especially when they see how helpless babies are. Babies have no way of knowing if the person holding them will care for them or hurt them. We trust parents to protect their precious children. But what if more than one person claims a baby? Without DNA testing, how will the real parent be determined? I came up with the idea for What Every Mother Needs while I was thinking about the story of King Solomon offering to cut a baby in half as a way to teach about the triumph of truth over lies.
You know the one, right? Two women claim a baby and the king, to determine which woman is really the mother, tells them to cut the child in two so they can each have half. Only one of the two women is horrified at the idea. The babyโs mother is willing to give up her child to the imposter in order to keep them alive. Sheโd rather see her child with another woman than dead.
But what if the mother wasnโt that magnanimous? Two women who arenโt afraid to shed blood fighting over a baby make for a great thriller.
Before even putting my hands on the keyboard, I knew I wanted the women in What Every Mother Needs to be each otherโs foil. Sophie is the prototypical power woman in high heels, with luxury luggage and the belief that she can have anything she wants as long as she works hard enough for it. And believe me, she works hard for it. She may not have started out at the top, but sheโs there now, and sheโll bulldoze anyone that threatens to knock her back down.
Charlotte, on the other hand, is a down-on-her-luck widow with a baby. Sheโs exhausted, covered in spit-up, and hasnโt had a decent meal in weeks. All she needs is help with the baby so she can get some sleep, shower without hearing her baby cry, and catch up with the laundry. Itโs fortuitous when Sophie shows up. A sister-in-law she didnโt know she had? Having her around makes her feel a bit closer to her recently deceased husband, and makes her feel like she can handle what life throws at her, but the honeymoon feeling doesnโt last long. With both women wanting the same thing, itโs only a matter of time before one of them snaps.
By locking them in a house together, I pushed them to their limits. As soon as the idea for the two women came to me, I knew theyโd make horrible roommates, and whatโs better than two people who hate each other forced to live in the same house?
The neighborhood and house in the book are niceโthink: soaring windows, custom drool-worthy kitchens, and huge backyards. But as nice as the house is, it canโt possibly hide the tension and danger growing inside.
I wrote the first draft of What Every Mother Needs during Hurricane Helene, when we were out of power for ten days, were digging peopleโs homes out of the mud, and cutting fallen trees. Never before have I been under so much stress in my personal life and I used that stress to manipulate Charlotte and Sophie, turning what should have been a delightful family reunion into a bloodbath.
Emily Shiner always dreamed of becoming an author. After spending years devouring stacks of thrillers, she decided to try her hand at writing them herself. Now she gets to live out her dream of writing novels and sharing her stories with people around the world. She lives in the Appalachian Mountains and loves hiking with her husband, daughter, and their two dogs.
Will there be a sequel to โWhat every mother needs? Did not end well.