The Mother Fault

By: Kate Mildenhall

Narrated by: Claudia Karvan

The breakout novel called ‘a triumph’ by Jane Harper, The Mother Fault is the riveting tale of one woman taking on the world to save her own.

‘A triumph of a novel. Five stars. I loved it. Thrilling, confronting, page-turning and heartbreakingly poignant, The Mother Fault is a remarkable story.' Jane Harper, bestselling author of The Dry

Mim’s husband is missing. No one knows where Ben is, but everyone wants to find him—especially the Department. And they should know, the all-seeing government body has fitted the entire population with a universal tracking chip to keep them ‘safe’.

But suddenly Ben can’t be tracked. And Mim is questioned, made to surrender her passport and threatened with the unthinkable—her two children being taken into care at the notorious BestLife.

From the stark backroads of the Australian outback to a terrifying sea voyage, Mim is forced to shuck off who she was—mother, daughter, wife, sister—and become the woman she needs to be to save her family and herself.

Longlisted for the 2021 ABIA General Fiction Book of the Year

‘Sublime . . . a timely, riveting, warning bell of a book.’ Books+Publishing

‘Brilliant. A raw, urgent, white-knuckle ride through a world only a heartbeat away’ James Bradley, author of Ghost Species

‘Clever, political, pacy and exciting. Pure diamond-edged propulsive power.’ Chris Flynn, author of Mammoth

‘Shook me to my core. I could not put it down’ Alice Robinson, author of The Glad Shout

‘A clarion call, wrapped in vivid prose, inside a truly thrilling read’ Angela Savage, author of Behind the Night Bazaar

‘An unvarnished, beautifully written, totally authentic tribute to the everyday badassery and bullshit of motherhood, to the ordinary extraordinariness of women. It’s also a fast-paced edge-of-your-seat, heart-in-your-mouth adventure with an ending worthy of a Homeland season finale.’ Anna Downes, author of The Safe Place

'A literary thriller that speaks precisely, devastatingly, to its time.' The Monthly

'Kate Mildenhall has imagined a world as terrifying and visionary as Margaret Atwood’s Gilead, with the pace of the best thrillers – and characters I’ll never forget. This is a novel of rare insight from a rising literary star.' J.P. Pomare, author of Call Me Evie

'The true power of this novel is in its appalling plausibility. That, and the fact that it is impossible to put down.’ Readings Monthly

©2020 Kate Mildenhall (P)2020 Simon & Schuster Australia

Critic reviews

‘From the first few pages, I knew I was going to be finishing The Mother Fault the same day I had started. Kate Mildenhall has imagined a world as terrifying and visionary as Margaret Atwood’s Gilead, with the pace of the best thrillers—and characters I’ll never forget. This is a novel of rare insight from a rising literary star.’ (J.P. Pomare, author of Call Me Evie and In the Clearing

'The Mother Fault is a clarion call, wrapped in vivid prose, inside a truly thrilling read. Mildenhall has written a page-turner that also delivers on beautiful language, vivid characterization and emotional complexity. It is a sensual delight. When I wasn’t gasping in suspense, I was sighing with pleasure at the dazzling prose’ (Angela Savage, author of Mother of Pearl and Behind the Night Bazaar)

‘In The Mother Fault, Kate Mildenhall has achieved that rare thing—a book that at once tackles the big issues and is an addictive page-turner. The near-future Mildenhall has created is not only believable but disturbingly familiar. At its heart is a timeless story of motherhood—an expert and moving portrayal of the lengths a mother will go to in order to save her family.’ (Melanie Cheng, author of Australia Day and Room for a Stranger)