Call Me Mummy by Tina Baker - BOOK REVIEW

Glamorous, beautiful Mummy has everything a woman could want... except for a daughter of her very own. So when she sees Kim—heavily pregnant, glued to her phone and ignoring her eldest child in a busy shop—she does what anyone would do. She takes her. But little foul-mouthed Tonya is not the daughter that Mummy was hoping for.

Meanwhile Kim is demonised by the media as a 'scummy mummy', who deserved to lose Tonya and ought to have her other children taken too. Haunted by memories of her own childhood and refusing to play by the media's rules, she begins to spiral, turning on those who love her.

Though they are worlds apart, Mummy and Kim have more in common than they could possibly imagine. But it is five-year-old Tonya who is caught in the middle...

When I began Tina Baker's debut novel, I had no idea I would be hooked from the first page and finish it within two days. With beautiful writing and intriguing character moments, Baker explores a child abduction from multiple perspectives and what it truly means to be a mother.

Mummy - we never learn her real name - is the definition of a woman whose modelled herself on society's version of "perfection" and is far from it in reality. Nobody would expect that a well-spoken and seemingly wealthy woman would do the horrendous acts she does. Mummy's carefully constructed persona hides a much darker side to her, but we see that start to crumble as she finds herself losing control over the fantasy of motherhood she's clutched to for years and sinks into her unhealthy relationship towards her faith. Mummy’s religious fanatics begin to surface whenever she’s triggered by memories of her dark past or can’t keep her persona up, making those unpredictable scenes were unsettling at times and really makes the reader question how far she’ll go in this downward spiral.

Kim is Mummy's opposite on first glance - covered in tattoos, brash, tough and a typical working-class mother. Kim is the one who is judged for taking her eyes off Tonya for a brief moment, living every parent's worst nightmare. The aftermath of Tonya's abduction ripples throughout the family and the North London community in the days, weeks and months that follow.

As well as dealing with the aftermath of Tonya's abduction, Kim becomes the target of vicious trolling on social media. Baker delves into the toxicity of social media and the affects it has on the victim's mental health. Needless to say, Kim goes down a dark spiral that she has to try and pull herself out of. Although Kim and Mummy appear to be worlds apart, they have both suffered very similar traumas and how its shaped them as two very different women.

It's so tough to review this book without going into spoilers, but Tina Baker had me gripped as she delivered twist after twist. Also, I have to give props to the remarkable narrator Kristin Atherton - switching between reading on my kindle to the audiobook was almost cinematic, especially with Atherton's acting range as she performed each character brilliantly.

This is a book I could definitely see adapted into a hit BBC or ITV mini-series. If I were to cast this, my top choices would be Ruth Wilson (His Dark Materials, Mrs Wilson, Jane Eyre) as Mummy and Katherine Kelly (Liar, Dirty God and Class) as Kim. Wilson has proven she can embody darkly complex characters and Kelly always finds the emotional depth in bold female roles.

Unsurprisingly, this was a FIVE-STAR rating on Goodreads for me. I loved every minute of this read and I am eagerly anticipating Baker's next novel.

About the Author

Tina Baker, the daughter of a window cleaner and fairground traveller, worked as a journalist and broadcaster for thirty years and is probably best known as a television critic for the BBC and GMTV. After so many hours watching soaps gave her a widescreen bum, she got off it and won Celebrity Fit Club. She now avoids writing-induced DVT by working as a Fitness Instructor.

Call Me Mummy is Tina's first novel, inspired by her own unsuccessful attempts to become a mother. Despite the grief of that, she's not stolen a child - so far. But she does rescue cats, whether they want to be rescued or not.

Author Links

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