Just Like Mother

Maeve and her cousin Andrea were raised in a cult called The Motherhood Collective, though they lost touch when the group’s criminal activities came to light and the girls were taken into foster care. Now living in New York City and working in publishing, Maeve reconnects with Andrea, now a wealthy lifestyle guru, through a DNA website. A series of unfortunate events (among them, she loses her job and the man she’s about to move in with dies in a building fire) leads to her living with Andrea and her husband in their enormous Hudson Valley estate. The more time she spends there, however, the more Maeve comes to realize that there’s something deeply strange and possibly sinister going on with Andrea. Heltzel’s (Charlie, Presumed Dead) latest revolves around a cult of motherhood that puts women’s own needs and desires far below their ability to reproduce. Though some of the plot details require a pretty hefty suspension of disbelief, listeners who buy in will have a creepy good time. Elizabeth Evans does a solid job narrating, though secondary characters are minimally differentiated.