Surrogate

Susan Spindler is an award-winning journalist and documentary filmmaker. She worked for the BBC on flagship series such as Horizon, Tomorrow's World, and QED and went on to be become Deputy Director of Drama, Entertainment & Children's Programmes. Another Mother is her first novel (published in hardback under the title Surrogate).

For fans of Lullaby and Apple Tree Yard, a gripping debut novel of relationships, mothers and secrets...

Both a thoughtful read exploring mother-daughter relationships, marriage and ageing, and an absolute belter of a page-turner. One to tell all your friends about
Full of drama . . . As much about womanhood as it is about motherhood
Dark and twisty
A fantastic book club choice, this will spark debate and discussions aplenty. After multiple rounds of failed IVF, Lauren and her husband feel completely deflated, so when Lauren's 54-year-old mother, Ruth, offers to be a surrogate, it seems perfect. Compelling
[A] gripping exploration of femininity and motherhood
A darkly humorous, thoughtful and thought provoking novel, along with being an absolute "up all night" compulsive read. I loved it
Unsparingly probes to the messy heart of mother/ daughter relationships. Clever and compelling. I loved it
A brilliantly structured, fast-paced and addictively compelling read. I loved the ending most of all
Moving and exciting and moral - immensely intelligent
A visceral and intimate study of the mechanics of womanhood, both physically and emotionally, which will leave you asking questions about yourself and how far love stretches. I especially loved the ending
A fascinating, compulsive and quietly transgressive novel that casts a keen, exacting eye over the dynamics of a family in extremis
There is nowhere near enough writing out there about how women truly experience the conflicting marvels and challenges of living inside a female body, even less about the menopause. Transgressive and gripping, this book reminds us that we disregard women over fifty at our peril
A piercingly honest view of the flesh and blood of women's lives and the imperfect tangles of family relationships. These real, believable and maddeningly blind characters make us feel for them more and more as the story gathers pace towards a brilliant heart-stopping conclusion
A gripping read. I found it hard to put down. Addresses issues of self-identity and how it is shaped by our fertility, which as a woman, mother, and author researching and writing about women's fertility and bodies, I found fascinating
Compulsively readable, Surrogate takes an interesting look at the complex and sometimes murky world of surrogacy and raises questions about issues to which there are no simple answers
Ruth Furnival is a successful television executive with a seemingly perfect life: a nice house in London, a lawyer husband and two grown-up daughters. But at 54, with an empty nest and the menopause behind her, she feels restless and dissatisfied.

After multiple rounds of failed IVF, her eldest daughter Lauren has been told that the only chance for her and her husband to have their own child is surrogacy. So when Ruth discovers that, with the right dose of hormones, she could carry their baby, out of desperation they agree.

At first Ruth is buoyed up by her sense of purpose, but as the pregnancy progresses, long-buried events from her past resurface - and Lauren can't contain her corrosive envy. Isolated and alone, Ruth starts to unravel, and what started as an act of altruism begins to seem like an atonement for which she is willing to risk everything.