The Stepson

by Mary Renshaw

The Stepson was published in December of 2021 and has great and not great reviews on Goodreads. One of those books you either enjoy, or in some cases, hate. I listened to the arc of the upcoming audio release and for me, it started as a one star (and I fought my instinct to dnf) and ended up being an enjoyable listen.

This is told in multiple POVs bouncing around from 1997 to 2019. The stepson, Nick, later becomes a husband and it’s these two women in his life (step-mom Maggie and wife Lulu) who tell much of the story. He was a troubled youth, and signs are there that Nick suffers some psychological issues. Or does he? Step-mom Maggie also has some baggage and after birthing her own child, wants teenage Nick out of their lives.

Returning home one afternoon Nick discovers his family gone and he always insisted it was evil step mom Maggie who had done away with them. He is left with no family willing to love him, but life goes on.

Fast forward to adult Nick who has managed a good life, financial security and a wife who happens to be a psychotherapist who wants to free Nick from childhood trauma. Defying every reasonable standard that treating ones family members is not wise, Lulu begins EMDR therapy on him which then turns into a trip home to face the trauma.

I enjoyed the storyline. As a person actually in process of EMDR I also liked the explanations of how it works and can confirm – it works!

This part of the review is now strictly about the audio – there were three narrators, Mhairi Morrison, Katherine Littrell and Joshua Manning for this 9 hour book. One woman spoke with an Irish accent while the other was Australian. It took a long time for my brain to be comfortable with the switching of the voices. This could be entirely a personal experience but I found it distracting and it took a moment for the auditory side of my brain to readjust to the new POV being voiced.

Overall a satisfying read and I will definitely be checking out Jane Renshaw’s other work.

Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for allowing me to listen in advance of the August 9, 2022 release.