Her One Regret

Summary

When successful Rhode Island real estate agent Lucy Mendoza vanishes, leaving her baby behind in a grocery store parking lot, the news quickly makes national headlines. Lucy’s best friend, Michelle, is devastated, and terrified that Lucy’s life is at stake. But she knows something that could complicate the police investigation. Lucy had confessed something unspeakable: She regretted becoming a mother, so much that she’d fantasized about faking her own kidnapping. If the police and media were to find out, Lucy would become a monster in public opinion. Michelle is sure Lucy would never abandon her daughter. But could she be wrong? Could Lucy have been so desperate she chose to escape her life?

Donna Freitas, author of the book club favorite The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano, has drawn from ground-breaking research to bring readers this unforgettable novel. Her One Regret is at once a pulse-pounding feminist thriller, a moving depiction of the realities of motherhood, and a rich exploration of a subject our culture and society have rendered nearly verboten: the possibility that for some women, motherhood is an unfixable mistake.

“A lively and fast-moving novel about women and the complexity of their interior lives. There is not enough literature about motherhood regret and Donna Freitas has done something unique and brave—opening up the topic in a courageous and passionate way through this suspenseful story of Lucy, Michelle, Julia and Diana and countless other women.”—Emma Gannon, author of Olive