Her One Regret
From the author of the book club favorite The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano comes a riveting feminist thriller that tackles an unspeakable taboo: regretting motherhood.
When successful Rhode Island real estate agent Lucy Mendoza vanishes, leaving her baby behind in a grocery store parking lot, the news quickly makes national headlines. Lucy’s best friend, Michelle, is devastated, and terrified that Lucy’s life is at stake. But she knows something that could complicate the police investigation. Lucy had confessed something unspeakable: She regretted becoming a mother so much that she’d fantasized about faking her own kidnapping. If the police and media were to find out, Lucy would become a monster in public opinion. Michelle is sure Lucy would never abandon her daughter. But could she be wrong? Could Lucy have been so desperate she chose to escape her life?
Bestselling author Donna Freitas has drawn from ground-breaking research to bring readers this unforgettable novel. Her One Regret is at once a pulse-pounding feminist thriller, a moving depiction of the realities of motherhood, and a rich exploration of a subject our culture and society have rendered nearly verboten—the possibility that for some women, motherhood is an unfixable mistake.
My thoughts:
This is a book that really intrigued me. It touches on important topics and pulled me in from the first chapter, but then left me conflicted by the time I reached the end. On one hand, it tackles difficult, uncomfortable topics that deserve more open conversation. On the other, it’s marketed as a thriller when, honestly, it’s more women’s fiction with a touch of mystery.
Lucy Mendoza, a successful real estate agent and new mother, vanishes after leaving her baby in a grocery store parking lot. The case explodes into national headlines, and the public reaction is swift and brutal. Mothers don’t disappear. Mothers don’t abandon their babies. And if they do, they must be monsters. That tension drives the early chapters and kept me fully engaged.
The story is primarily told through Michelle, Lucy’s best friend’s, POV. Michelle is devastated by Lucy’s disappearance and determined to find out what really happened. She is also carrying a dangerous secret. Lucy had once confessed that she regretted becoming a mother so deeply that she fantasized about faking her own kidnapping. Michelle knows that if this information becomes public, Lucy will be vilified beyond redemption. That knowledge shapes everything Michelle does, and it creates a compelling emotional through line.
What really worked for me was the book’s exploration of how society treats women who struggle with motherhood. Michelle is the kind of woman who seems born to be a mother. It comes easily to her. Lucy, on the other hand, never quite fits into that role, and the book refuses to frame that as a moral failure. We also get chapters from Julia, another woman navigating the isolating, overwhelming reality of motherhood. Julia understands, perhaps better than anyone, why Lucy might want to disappear. These perspectives give the book depth and nuance, and they are where the story is strongest.
Freitas does an excellent job examining how quickly women turn on other women, especially around motherhood. Regret is treated as unforgivable. Ambivalence is treated as dangerous. The book asks hard questions about whether motherhood is always a blessing and whether society allows women to admit when it isn’t. Those themes are thoughtful, timely, and handled with care.
The writing itself is tight, and the pacing moves quickly. The mystery of Lucy’s disappearance kept me guessing, and I was invested in finding out what happened. Unfortunately, this is where the book began to lose me.
Despite being marketed as a thriller, this novel leans much more heavily toward women’s fiction with a light mystery element. The so-called thriller aspects feel awkwardly bolted on. A creepy neighbor subplot, in particular, felt unnecessary and distracting. It didn’t deepen the themes or the emotional stakes. It felt like a late addition designed to justify the thriller label, and instead it diluted what the book does well.
The biggest issue for me, though, was the final reveal. The explanation of what really happened to Lucy didn’t hold up under scrutiny and felt emotionally unsatisfying. It clashed with the careful character work built earlier in the book and raised more questions than it answered. For a story so grounded in emotional realism, the conclusion felt oddly disconnected.
That said, I don’t regret reading this book. It sparks important conversations about motherhood, regret, and the cruelty of public judgment. While the thriller elements didn’t work for me and the ending fell flat, the book’s core themes are worth engaging with. If you go in expecting women’s fiction with a strong social lens rather than a pulse-pounding thriller, you may find more to appreciate than I ultimately did.
