The Mothers

What if the baby you gave birth to belonged to someone else?

Grace and Dan Arden are in their forties and have been on the IVF treadmill since the day they got married. Six attempts have yielded no results and with each failure a little piece of their hope dies. Priya Laghari and her husband Nick Archer are being treated at the same fertility clinic, and while they don’t face the same time pressure as the Ardens, the younger couple have their own problems. Priya is booked for her next IVF cycle the same day that Grace goes in for her final, last-chance embryo transfer. Two weeks later, both women get their results. A year on, angry and heartbroken, one of the women learns her embryo was implanted in the other’s uterus and must make a devastating choice: live a childless life knowing her son is being raised by strangers or seek custody of a baby who has been nurtured and loved by another couple.


“Engagingly and unflinchingly told, Gannon's new novel, The Mothers, is the story of every parent's worst nightmare. It is that novel that makes you muse on the most difficult of questions … What makes a mother? And can you ever un-become one? Like all my favourite books, The Mothers is both heartbreaking and heartwarming, and it leaves you with a lot to think about...I sobbed my way through this wonderful book.” SALLY HEPWORTH, bestselling author of The Mother-in-Law

"The Mothers beautifully captures the desperation for a baby and the emotional roller-coaster of IVF . . .In the style of Jodi Picoult, it’s impossible to choose sides. These characters and their heart-wrenching dilemma will have you asking what would you do? An intriguing, thought-provoking novel.’ PETRONELLA McGOVERN, bestselling author of Six Minutes