The Tutor by Courtney Psak
When it comes to parenting, there has been this growing shift in the cultural expectations of motherhood. It isn’t always easy dealing with the pressures of society putting a spotlight on how we parent. There then develops this level of imposture syndrome, where you constantly feel like you are failing at motherhood, or you turn yourself into someone that you’re not in order to fit into this box that has defined the rules of parenting.
That sort of pressure can bring some mothers to their breaking point, while others will stop at nothing to keep the picture-perfect image of themselves.
Domestic thrillers are full of psychological manipulation. But, when you make the characters unreliable narrators, you add another layer of depth forcing the reader to analyze whether or not they can trust this person, even within the inner workings of their own mind.
There are many ways in which a mother can be an unreliable narrator. For one thing, it’s hard to see our child capable of doing wrong. This might be because we still see them as our little babies with gummy smiles. But then there’s also the thought that if they are accused of doing something bad, how does that reflect on us? Does that make us a bad parent and somewhere along the way did we ourselves do something wrong?
Truth, Lies and Rose-Colored Glasses
Most of us see ourselves as the hero of our own story. So, it’s not surprising that when reflecting back on a memory, we might see it in a different way than from what actually might have happened.
Sometimes we can even get others to see it our way too.
In my novel The Tutor, we meet Evelyn. She is the mother-in-law to Rose who just recently married her son Grant. There is suspicion around the death of Evelyn’s late husband, but of course that’s just gossip; she on the other hand, has her own truth. When Rose and Grant move in with Evelyn, upon learning of her Parkinson’s diagnosis, Evelyn makes it very clear that she doesn’t think Rose belongs with her son, Grant, and she will make sure Rose sees that too, by any means necessary.
The way that mothers wear rose colored glasses when it comes to their family, the same can go for their children.
This ultimately makes it harder for a new spouse to come in and argue otherwise.
In my novel, Evelyn has no problem showing her true colors to Rose, but always makes sure she is her best self in front of her son. Grant, meanwhile, already knows that Rose isn’t happy about the move and while he sympathizes, he assumes that Rose, growing up as an orphan, doesn’t understand the importance of family and how even if they aren’t your favorite person, you try to get along.
This mindset of his puts Rose in a precarious position because while he knows that she’s not lying about what she heard or witnessed, he’ll think that she’s misinterpreting and seeing things differently than they are intended. It convinces Rose to keep what’s happening from Grant and therefore taking matters into her own hands.
Buried Pasts and Deadly Secrets
Whereas Evelyn is manipulative, Rose is deceitful in her own right, even if it’s with the best intentions in mind.
Rose had a very dark and traumatic childhood. One that involved her doing something so terrible she’d do anything to keep her secret buried, especially from her own teenage son, James.
But when Rose discovers Evelyn knows the truth about her past, a game of cat and mouse ensues, filled with veiled threats and manipulation. How far is Evelyn willing to go in order to insure she gets what she wants and just how far is Rose prepared to go to keep her secret from ever coming out?
When Rose falls in love and marries Grant, she wants to make up for her past mistakes by giving James the best life that she can. Rose feels she can accomplish this by using their new wealth to give James the best education money can buy. Desperate for him to be able to keep up, she finds him a tutor, Isabel. She’s young, smart, connects well with James and just so happened to work at James’ previous school in New York. So, it seems like a great coincidence that she ended up at the same school as him in Florida, or is it?
Family Drama at the Heart of Every Thriller
Isabel was raised by her grandmother, who recently passed away. Feeling very alone now that her only living relative is dead, she searches for answers when she discovers that her whole life with her grandmother was a lie and she’s desperate to go after who’s responsible.
When Rose starts to realize that things aren’t as they seem, she tries to shelter James as he fights to prove that he’s old enough to handle it and have a say in his own life.
It’s this sort of mentality that makes it hard for mothers to let go of the reins and decide when the right time is to let their children live their own lives. But where is the line?
The relationship between parents and children is always layered with complexities, which is why for domestic thrillers, you can’t forget the importance of family drama and the complicated emotions that come with it.
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