Synopsis – Shaken
When Sally unexpectedly becomes a mother at twenty, she tries her best to build a stable life for her son, Morgan. But the sleepless nights, overwhelming isolation, and relentless cries wear her down until she breaks, and in a moment of desperation, she does the unthinkable: she shakes her baby. Consumed by guilt and fear, Sally buries her actions beneath a facade of normalcy, but the cracks are beginning to show.
Enter Alyssa, the teenage babysitter, who is left in charge the night after the incident. As Morgan’s condition deteriorates, Sally’s partner, Charles, grows increasingly concerned. A series of alarming doctors’ visits spiral into a nightmare when authorities are alerted and fingers start pointing at Alyssa. Will Sally come forward and risk losing everything, or will she try to maintain the illusion of being a perfect mother—even if it means someone else takes the blame?
Shaken explores the intense, often unspoken, struggles of new motherhood and the complexities of human fallibility, raising an unsettling question: Does one irreversible mistake define you forever?
Perfect for fans of Jodi Picoult, Lisa Jewell, and Freida McFadden.
Author Bio
Jill Amber Chafin earned an advanced diploma in creative writing from Te Pūkenga (New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology) and a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her short-form prose has appeared in various literary publications and has won several awards. She lives with her husband and two children in Chapel Hill, North Carolina where she works as a freelance writer, editor, and circus arts teacher. Shaken is her debut novel.
My Review
Shaken by Jill Amber Chafin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Sometimes you finish a book, and you just say “dang”. Thats how I feel with this one. This is definitely one I will think about for a long time, and I find myself wishing it was a book club choice because I want to talk about it with somebody.
This is not an easy book to read. The subject matter of child abuse is very very hard. It was a struggle to feel much sympathy for the responsible adult here.
The ending was unsatisfying to me and that hampered my rating a bit. The author made a choice I didn’t think was necessary but also several things were left unexplained. Maybe I needed it to tie up more neatly.
This isn’t a thriller in the traditional sense in that you know what happened from early in the book. But it is still very interesting watching how that choice unfolds from that point.
The book got to a point where you could not stop reading because you needed to see what happened.
This was my first book by this author, but I look forward to reading more of her work.
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