How I Lost You

Susan Webster, the narrator of British author Blackhurst’s captivating if flawed first novel, believes that she’s guilty of smothering her three-month-old son, Dylan, to death in a fit of postpartum depression, even though she has no memory of doing so. After spending nearly three years at the Oakdale Psychiatric Facility, she’s paroled and given a new name. Shortly after she settles in Ludlow, Shropshire, someone mails her a photo of a smiling young boy with the name Dylan written on the back. Scared and confused, Susan enlists the aid of Cassie Reynolds, her best friend from Oakdale, and reporter Nick Whitely to reexamine the crime. As Susan looks into her past, she realizes how little she knew about Mark, her ex-husband and the child’s father. The danger to Susan escalates as the truth slowly reveals itself, but the plot goes off the rails under the weight of the implausible actions of several key characters, some of whom aren’t who they seem to be. Agent: Laetitia Rutherford, Watson, Little (U.K.). (Oct.)