In her latest novel Nicola Moriarty delves into the perils of social media and how easily small things can become big things and go horribly awry.
Poppy Weston has recently endured a double blow, her husband Garrett has been having an affair and the person he's cheating with is her best friend Karleen. And when they drop the bomb on her they add insult to injury. Garrett and Karleen are going to have a baby. Poppy has never wanted children and she thought Garrett felt the same. Turns out she was wrong. While she's still stinging from the breakup, she is befriended by a co-worker, Annalise. The two women agree about not wanting children and decide to form a private Facebook group for Non-mums - women who just don't want to have kids. Initially the group works like a charm, offering tips and support for the women about how to deal with all the moments in life that are challenging for women who choose to be childless. But when someone in their group shares an angry, drunken post of Poppy's to a Mom's Facebook group, the battle lines are drawn. As Poppy comes to realize she has lost control of the group, she's also becoming aware that Annalise has been a lot less then honest with her.
Moriarty expertly captures the tensions women face from all sides about any and all of their choices. What's also well done is the suspense. The suspense here is not generated by a crime, but by the snowball effect of small actions that can grow and grow. How do you get out from under a relational disaster that you had a hand in creating? What happens when small lies become bigger and more hurtful ones? That's with what Moriarty's characters have to grapple.