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Mothers and Other Liars

by Amy Bourret (Goodreads Author)

3.43 of 5 stars 3.43 · rating details · 1,226 ratings · 310 reviews

How far will a mother go to save her child?

Ten years ago, Ruby Leander was a drifting nineteen-year-old who made a split-second decision at an Oklahoma rest stop. Fast forward nine years: Ruby and her daughter Lark live in New Mexico. Lark is a precocious, animal loving imp, and Ruby has built a family for them with a wonderful community of friends and her boyfriend of thr...more

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Published (first published July 26th 2010)

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Sep 20, 2010 Ash rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I don't even know what to say. I loved the book and really felt for Ruby and Lark until page 172 where she drops the bomb that totally obliterates the story for me.

Quick Overview: At age 19 Ruby was headed to California, but at a rest stop her plans change. There she finds an abandoned baby and immediately feels a connection and need to protect her. Nine years later, her and Lark have made a family. With close friends, her boyfriend Chaz, and a baby on the way they have a good life. Until Ruby...more I don't even know what to say. I loved the book and really felt for Ruby and Lark until page 172 where she drops the bomb that totally obliterates the story for me.

Quick Overview: At age 19 Ruby was headed to California, but at a rest stop her plans change. There she finds an abandoned baby and immediately feels a connection and need to protect her. Nine years later, her and Lark have made a family. With close friends, her boyfriend Chaz, and a baby on the way they have a good life. Until Ruby sees the article that could take Lark away from her; an article that says of a baby that was kidnapped during a carjacking. How could Ruby ever make the choice that could take away her precocious, wide-eyed Lark?

At first I really thought I was going to love it. I was totally on board and rooting for Lark and Ruby, just waiting for things to finally work out. I was already getting choked up and sure that I would cry at the end. Then half way through, BOOM! I don't know if this women is on crack or if she's just missing some brain cells, but what makes her think that, THAT'S a GOOD idea! Just to clarify, this WTF!?! moment I'm talking about is Ruby's plan to (don't think this is much of a spoiler) get back Lark after she's taken away. Not only that, but the reactions that some of the characters had to it just floored me and seemed totally uncharacteristic.

First off, any opposing view is either explained away "rationally" or shoved aside with the fact that Ruby just "feels it's the right thing". You can't think of this rationally! There's a kid involved! This is not a math problem a child feelings and well-being is at stake. "The Feeling"? Lame excuse. Lark, being the "wise, old-soul" child that she is, just comes to "understand" that Ruby's decision is for the best. No guilt and not many questions. Oh, well how convenient.

Besides that the characters don't act consistently. Antoinette is Ruby's best friend and Chaz's sister and they are explained as coming from a very close, traditional Hispanic-Catholic family, but time and time again Antoinette sides with Ruby over her family. I'm telling you this isn't small stuff, this is HUGE. Without much further explanation she just sides with Ruby. IN FACT, she apologies for her family’s behavior and hopes that Ruby is still her friend. Chaz is just all over the place. I just can't believe that he would act that way at the end. His character was treated very unfairly, mostly used to the benefit of making Ruby look better.

I could go on, but I think that the main point is that Ruby's decision is selfish. She doesn't look too much into the future consequences for everyone involved; she just wants Lark back and again has a "feeling" that she's doing the right thing. Everything just magically works out for the best at the end and she doesn't have to actually deal with any of the consequences of her decision. It almost felt like a passive-aggressive "Ha! See, told you I was right!” The end is happy and I have to admit that I did feel happy for them, even just a little bit because the writing really does get you emotionally invested in these characters. I'm not taking anything away from the author on that point, she can write. I just wish it would've been for a story that I actually enjoyed.(less)

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Sep 06, 2010 Lynn rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have put off writing a review because I really don't know what I wanted to say about this book. The premise is intriguing, of course: A teenager finds an abandoned baby in a trash barrel just as she is setting off to begin life as a true orphan herself, the grandmother who raised her having recently died. Naturally, she keeps the baby. Jump immediately ahead 9 years to where the teenager, Ruby, now an adult woman has a perfect, loving relationship with her daughter, Lark, is engaged to be marr...more

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Jun 21, 2010 Kaion rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary

Nine years ago, when she was feeling utterly alone, Ruby found a baby with large eyes staring at her from the trash can of a truck rest stop. She took it as a sign, and carved out a happy life with "Lark" under the blue dome of sky of Santa Fe. Until she found out Lark wasn't as abandoned as she'd thought, and no matter what she does now, she stands to lose her daughter.

Another reviewer pretty aptly said that Mothers and Other Liars strains credibility. While truth is stranger than fiction, I th...more

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Jul 13, 2010 Gloria Bernal rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: single moms

Recommended to Gloria by: Amazon

This is a perfect title for this novel. I was sent the the pre-release to review for Amazon online. The unique plot line and the recommendations on the cover from many of my favorite authors had me excited to begin it.

Ruby is a 19-year old leaving her home town in search of a new life out west. She has no family, and feeling very alone when she discovers an abandoned baby girl at a rest stop and decides to keep her and raise her as her own. Nine years later she discovers that the girl she is ra...more This is a perfect title for this novel. I was sent the the pre-release to review for Amazon online. The unique plot line and the recommendations on the cover from many of my favorite authors had me excited to begin it.

Ruby is a 19-year old leaving her home town in search of a new life out west. She has no family, and feeling very alone when she discovers an abandoned baby girl at a rest stop and decides to keep her and raise her as her own. Nine years later she discovers that the girl she is raising was not "discarded" as she had thought, but has biological parents looking for her all these years believing she was abducted. What Ruby decides to do, now that she has matured and is expecting her own child will affect the lives of the girl she is raising and the child she is carrying, not to mention everyone related or associated with both children, such as friends, and even the dog.

I liked many things about this clean book (no bad language, even in stressful situations) - the setting, originality, the prose, and especially a powerful plot line. This could have been an extra-ordinary work. I felt that it lacked character development, not so much with Ruby, but some situations with the daughter, and especially with her fiance, Chaz, father of the unborn child that she is carrying and his Latino family. Ruby's plan to "fix things" brings about a volatile situation that could have been capitalized on by the writer. Initially Chaz and his family have strong opinions about everything, but it all falls by the wayside and we, as readers, are not privvy to their discussion of it and all of the reasons why things turned out as they did.

The trial part of the novel was done well, the author's expertise here is evident.

I cannot agree that the author's work in this novel compares with Marisa de los Santos or Jodi Picoult's, but she is definitely talented. I will look forward to her future works. This one will be released next month, in August. Pick it up and let me know what you think.

(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Jan 16, 2011 Christie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary-fiction, mothers-daughters, 2011-scavenger-hunt, picked-up-because-of-cover

I liked this book despite the fact that the premise of the story is tired. A child is kidnapped and raised by the kidnappers as their own child. There seems to be many books that have already visited this premise. The book was saved by being unique. The kidnapper in the story was not aware that she was a kidnapper instead believing that she saved an abandoned baby. There were many unpredictable twists and turns in the story that saved it from being the same old story over and over again. The way...more

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Aug 15, 2011 Evamarie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, salt-lake-county-library-readers-ch

Another Readers Choice book from the library it took me awhile to get into it but did enjoy it for the most part. Like some others have said it seems kind of far fetched but I still couldn't put it down and had to find out what happened in the end. I really couldn't understand the choice Ruby made in order to get Lark back, thats where I wanted to through the book across the room.
Tired when I wrote this ment throw not through.

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Jul 05, 2011 Debbie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I thought this sounded like a very interesting story and couldn't wait to read it. But once I got started I founded it too unbelieveable and the characters not that interesting. I would have liked to feel more for Ruby and her difficult situation, but I did not. I would have liked to fall in love with Lark, her "daughter", and really root for her to be back with Ruby, but I did not. The writing was OK, but seemed a little too simple, like a HS writing assignment. The characters, overall, just we...more

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Jun 04, 2012 Shannon Bradley rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book sucked me in from page one. I had so much trouble putting it down that I drained my Nook battery so completely that it wouldn't even stay one after I plugged it in. And then I was constantly waiting for it to be charged enough so that I could go back to reading.

It was really easy to identify with all of the characters and their feelings for each other. And they were a perfect example that family can be anyone you choose and not just people related to you by blood.

I know lots of other r...more

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Jun 24, 2011 Sunday rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

1 like · like · see review

Apr 27, 2011 Jen C (ReadinginWBL) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-read-in

The title and cover of this book really is what made me grab it off the new fiction self at the library. In reflecting on the title, Mothers & Other Liars, I am left wondering who the other liars were. This book started off good for me, got a little slow in the middle, but picked up again towards the end. Mothers & Other Liars reads a bit like a book by Jodi Picoult. It is an emotional read that in the heart of it examines the debate of Nurture vs. Nature. The book though not very long i...more

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Mar 19, 2011 Karen rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

2 likes · like · see review

Sep 03, 2010 Louise rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literature-fiction

The main protagonist, Ruby Leander, was nineteen years old when she stumbled upon a baby in a trash can at a rest stop in Oklahoma. Ruby is unsure what to do but makes an instant decision, without thinking, and takes the baby.

Nine years later, Ruby and her daughter, Lark, live in New Mexico. During the past nine years, Ruby and Lark have carved out a happy life together. They have many friends, a loving dog named Clyde, Ruby has a job as a manicurist at her friends’ beauty salon and a loving thr...more

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Jul 16, 2010 Elissa Hoole rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was difficult to rate, and I'm trying to figure out if that's because it was flawed or because it didn't turn out to be the type of story I expected it to be. Some of the really terrific things about this book were the quiet moments--the mother-daughter relationship and some lyrical, sweet moments with "the Ms"--the lesbian proprietors of the beauty salon where Ruby works. The pacing worked really well, with short chapters that draw you in and keep you moving forward through the book,...more

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Jun 30, 2010 Miki Garrison rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

While I often enjoy literary fiction with emotionally intense family dramas, they are usually the sort of book that I read off and on over a few weeks. With "Mothers and Other Liars", however, I finished it in one night -- by the point where I would normally put the book down for the day, I was drawn in too deeply and needed to see it straight through.

This is the story of Ruby, a young mother in a small New Mexico town who makes a startlingly personal discovery while reading the tabloids at work...more While I often enjoy literary fiction with emotionally intense family dramas, they are usually the sort of book that I read off and on over a few weeks. With "Mothers and Other Liars", however, I finished it in one night -- by the point where I would normally put the book down for the day, I was drawn in too deeply and needed to see it straight through.

This is the story of Ruby, a young mother in a small New Mexico town who makes a startlingly personal discovery while reading the tabloids at work one day. The consequences of that discovery -- and her own choices a decade earlier -- unfold throughout the book, as Ruby struggles to stay single-minded and focused on doing what is right for her daughter Lark, even to the cost of losing almost everything else in her life. The book does an amazing job of showing the interaction of these events and the tapestry of Ruby's relationships.

Things I loved about this book?
* The setting in the small, New Mexico town felt fresh and different. I've read far too many family dramas set in the generic South, and this was a welcome change.

* There was an amazing amount of diversity and strength in Ruby's friendships, and the author did a great job of showing both how they'd built up to that point, and how they were affected by the events of the story.

* Even in the midst of all of this, Ruby's life wasn't *just* about the plot events. She still had other parts of her life that were important to her, that she struggled to keep in balance: her job at the salon, her reclaimed wood furniture business, her home and her dog, her friends and her relationship with Chaz.

The only thing about this book that frustrated me was a point at which Lark moves off-screen for awhile. While it makes sense, as the story is driven by Ruby's perspective, I was actually growing anxious and wondering what was happening to her -- which of course made reading about Ruby's struggles during this time all the more real. So while it was transiently frustrating, I think it added to the effect of the book overall.

This is one of these books that you can read, and then will suddenly wake up thinking about again, days later. Intense, thought-provoking, and genuine -- well worth the read. (less)

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May 29, 2010 Jasmyn9 rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, adoption, family

An early review book that I hesitated to request, but am glad that I did. Ruby Leander has a secret, some would call it horrible, some would say deep dark, but I don't think any of those could really apply. Her daughter, Lark, isn't really hers. She found her in a trash can as she traveled to her new life out west. Assuming the baby had been abandoned, Ruby is shocked when nine years later, she finds that Lark's real parents have been looking for her all this time.

The story follows Ruby's decisi...more

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Aug 14, 2012 Eva Pohler rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

How would you feel if what you believed to be true about your nine-year-old daughter weren't, and she was suddenly taken away from you even as you attempted to do the right thing? I don't think I could go on living, but Ruby does as she fights to be reunited with her daughter in Amy Bourret's well-crafted novel, Mothers and Other Liars.

With a literary, musical style and vivid characters and setting, Bourret takes us through Ruby's struggle in Santa Fe, New Mexico to avoid prison and protect her...more

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Jun 04, 2011 Amy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really liked this book, even though it did strain the lines of credibility. My BIGGEST complaint was the overuse of metaphors and similies - EVERY sentence it seemed. Definitely to the point of very distracting. There were times that I skimmed the book due to the writing style. Yes, the ending was tied up neatly in a bow, almost, but truthfully, I needed it that way. The premise and how Ruby ends up with Lark is very interesting. I think the author let her audience down in how she portrayed Ch...more

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May 18, 2011 April rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-reads

The most exciting thing about this book is the synopsis on the back cover. After losing her Grandmother, her last remaining family member, Ruby Leander is lost. Driving aimlessly, she stops at a gas station where she finds an abandoned baby and makes a decision that changes the course of her life forever. Nine years later, Ruby comes across an ad in the paper. Two parents are searching for their stolen baby and the baby's age adjusted photograph looks just like her daughter Lark.

Sounds intriguin...more

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Oct 16, 2010 Amy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: moms

Recommended to Amy by: Jennie

Shelves: 2010, re-readable

I'm so thankful to have been able to participate in a book tour of this book! Friday I was on page 90 and when I finally made myself go to bed in the early hours of Saturday morning, I was just thirty pages shy of the ending. I really couldn't put this book down. I loved the short chapters; it was easy to breeze through this book because it kept my attention with every page turned.

I'm not going to lie -- I was very thankful my husband wasn't in the room when I got a quarter of the way into the b...more

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Nov 22, 2011 Erin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book ... oh, this book.

Before I had kids, this book probably wouldn't have really held my interest. I probably would have finished it still, but only if something better didn't come along in the meantime.

Now that I'm a mom though? I spent this entire book alternately struggling not to cry and struggling not to run into my baby's room and grab her out of the crib and never let go.

It was good. It was almost too good -- the type of good where you find yourself skimming pages, skipping over pie...more

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Mar 18, 2011 Jessica rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was extremely disappointed with this book. I had read a review of it somewhere and thought it sounded good, but it was overall very disappointing. The storyline follows Ruby and her daughter Lark. Ruby found Lark abandoned at a rest stop and decides to raise the baby instead of turning her over to the police. This decision will come to haunt her nine years later when Ruby sees a magazine article about parents looking for their kidnapped daughter - and that daughter is Lark. Ruby makes the deci...more

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Nov 20, 2010 Rebecca rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A thouroughly unbelievable, although well-written, piece of fiction.

Ruby loses her grandmother at age 19 so she sells the house, packs up the car and heads to California. Along the way, she finds a baby in a trash can. Not knowing anything about babies, she decides to keep it (I know, it just gets weirder), drives till the car breaks down, is immediately taken in by a kindly gay couple, given a job, an apartment and all the free child care she needs. A few years later, one of her manicure custom...more

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Jun 17, 2011 HippieMommy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Mothers and Other Liars is the story of a teenager who finds an infant and decides to raise her as her own. Almost 10 years later, she reads an article in a magazine and finds out that the baby's parents are searching for their infant who was kidnapped by carjackers. From that point on, the story unfolds in the midst of the ethical dilemmas of whether or not to turn to the legal system, parental rights, and how to cope when time with your children has been lost.

Like many of the other reviewers o...more

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Sep 28, 2010 Nichole Johnson rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Aug 31, 2011 Sammie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I liked this book.

9 years ago, Ruby thought she did a good thing. She rescued an abandoned baby and raised her as her own. Through a lot of luck she has a stable and content life (which some readers have criticised as unrealistic - but I'm happy to give her that security - as it allows us to focus on more interesting aspects of the relationships between characters).

Her outlook changes when she discovers that the baby she thought was unwanted and abandoned has in fact been missed for the past 9...more

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Jul 08, 2011 Desire May rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Heartwrenching...I was crying like a baby reading this book. Definitely NSFW! This was one of those books that puts a worst-case scenario in front of you and makes the reader question their own values in a what-if situation. I still have no clue what I would do, except maybe high-tail it to Mexico and disappear. I don't want to give too much away, but this was a great book and I still think about it months later...

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Jun 25, 2011 Caren Nelson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Caren by: Dalene

I totally love this book right now...I'm about half-way through and I'm not sure where it will end up so I may change my mind, but so far I love the style of writing and the story is fairly provocative.

I LOVED this book! If I hadn't been reading two other books, I would have finished this in a day. I did not want to put it down!
"Lovely, lyrical...The dialogue sings on every page and the story rings with authenticity."
Absolutely true. I loved the scenes she painted, the similes were beautiful and...more

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Jul 28, 2010 Shelley (shellmh) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: advanced-reading-copies, firstreads, nbc, 2010

Fellow nestie Jennie won the an ARC (advanced reading copy) of Mothers & Other Liars by Amy Bourret on Goodreads. It was such a good book she decided to start a nestie book tour for it. I was the second to get it, and I finished it in less than 2 days (probably could have finished it in one sitting if we weren't so busy). I really enjoyed it. My only minor annoyance was that there were a LOT of similes.. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love a good simile every once in awhile, but there was an...more

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Jun 18, 2010 Nely rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: for-review

I always have a soft spot for stories about mothers and their love for a child/children and this one won a place in my heart from the first turn of its page. I was able to connect with Ruby from the start.

At 19, Ruby Oleander finds a baby in a trash can while at a rest stop. Believing that the child was abandoned she grabs that baby and heads off out west in search of a new life and the ocean. Nine years later, she and her daughter Lark, have made a nice life for themselves. Lark is a sweet girl...more I always have a soft spot for stories about mothers and their love for a child/children and this one won a place in my heart from the first turn of its page. I was able to connect with Ruby from the start.

At 19, Ruby Oleander finds a baby in a trash can while at a rest stop. Believing that the child was abandoned she grabs that baby and heads off out west in search of a new life and the ocean. Nine years later, she and her daughter Lark, have made a nice life for themselves. Lark is a sweet girl and you can instantly tell that she is being raised in a loving and doting home surrounded by wonderful friends. But all that is about to change when Ruby finds a picture of an infant in the newspaper whose parents have been searching for over the past nine years.

What an interesting premise! I cannot say how many times I questioned myself and what my instinct would have been had I been the one in a situation like this. This is Ruby's story and what cost she'll have to pay in order to do the right thing.

Although some parts were a stretch of the imagination, I really enjoyed the honest feel of the emotions that were written plainly on every page. I felt the tension throughout the courtroom drama scenes and the relief at the support of various friends and community members.

As a mother you can't help but relate to Ruby. I had this churning feeling in my stomach at times while reading because of the heart-wrenching, unthinkable decisions she has to make and their related consequences. There were moments that had me unexpectedly tightening my throat or that caused the watering of my eyes.

This is the story of a mother and a daughter whose lives are turned upside down when a dark secret comes to light. Your emotions will be all over the place - you won't know whose side you're on since there isn't a villain - these are just people following their hearts and doing the best they can to live their lives. An amazing story of love, hope and forgiveness. A must read.

This book was provided for review by St. Martin's Griffin.(less)

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Jun 18, 2010 Shannon (shananagins) Jones rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I tore through this book in two days. Once I passed the halfway point I could not put it down until I knew how it ended.
Ruby is 19 years old when she finds a baby in a trash can. Thinking the baby was abandoned she decides on a whim to keep it. 9 years later she and the baby, who she named Lark, are living in Santa Fe when Ruby learns the disturbing truth about Lark's origins, and has to make some difficult decisions.
The book delves into the relationships between mothers and daughters and the...more

1 like · like · see review

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