Bev Thomas Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Bev Thomas is a mystery author best known for her debut novel “A Good Enough Mother.” While she has worked for years in the psychotherapy and psychoanalytic world, she never expected that she would pen her first work in the field. She spent years working with the NHS as a clinical psychologist but her very first manuscripts were historical fiction pieces. Eventually, she decided to set one of the novels in the domain she had chosen to pursue as a career. She had always been fascinated by what people do and why they do the things they do, which is why she decided to become a clinical psychologist. As she began to write, she believed it was critical to write characters that made psychological sense and hence she was interested not in a thriller but in a psychological drama. Her novel is a story of motherhood, grief, and the complexities of the patient-therapist relationship. Bev has said that part of her drive in writing the novel was to humanize the therapists who have complicated lives just like the people they help. They are not perfect people as they have rebellious children, marriages that don’t work among many other issues but that does not stop them from doing their jobs. The novel immerses itself in the therapy world and references Donald Winnicott and Melanie Klein that were critical in introducing the idea of the “not good enough mother.” She has said that through her novel she hopes to change people’s perceptions of interpersonal relationships in the home and other social and professional spaces. Besides therapy, the novel also showcases the limitations and aspirations of motherhood.

Since Bev published her novel with contemporary themes, “A Good Enough Mother” attracted a lot of interest and was the centerpiece of an auction that attracted five publishers. Nonetheless, she had an arduous journey to publication that took more than eighteen years. In the years trying to get her novels published, she attended numerous creative writing seminars, workshops, and seminars and became an Arvon junkie. Bev describes herself as an extrovert and hence the collective work of creative writing groups was something that she really loved. Getting the feedback from the groups she was part of has been a huge influence on her writing. This mirrors her current role where she helps mental health teams communicate and collaborate effectively as an organizational consultant. Thomas still works her day job as a clinical psychologist and combines this with her writing. Part of what she does is help people tell their stories at her therapy couch and this is what she now does in her stories. Since she often develops a connection while engaging with her clients, she now has the perfect opportunity to connect with her readers through a psychological work of fiction.

In her novel, Bev writes about a flawed but exceptional therapist that is blindsided by feelings of grief about her son that had gone missing. She was thinking what if a client came to see her but had a face that reminded her of her lost son. While what she writes is fictionalized casework, much of what happens in the story is inspired by real-life experiences. The treatment and understanding of psychological challenges, therapy work, and the descriptions of the National Health Service operations are drawn from Bev Thomas’s experiences working as a clinical psychologist. Bev Thomas has also been inspired by films and books that explore the emotional and psychological complexities. One film she particularly loves and which has been included in the narrative is “Ordinary People.” It is a brilliant film about the aftermath of loss and grief in the family. The films and books she enjoys the most are about interpersonal dynamics steeped in tensions and conflict.

Bev Thomas’ “A Good Enough Mother” is the story of psychotherapist Ruth Hartland who works at one of the elite facilities working with clients that experienced severe trauma. She has won recognition and many awards over several years of practice and she is highly regarded at her place of work and her office is full of accolades. However, she has a dark and deep secret that she has never shared with anyone. Her son Tom had gone missing two years ago and she has never heard from him since and does not know if he is just hiding or is dead. Her daughter comes around very rarely and her marriage is tottering on the edge of collapse. Could her happy façade fade away as she deals with a lot of personal trauma? When she decides to take the case of an interesting patient, she soon discovers that her client looks a lot like her son that had disappeared. Will she be able to maintain her professional boundaries and provide him with the help he needs without getting him into her drama. It is a narrative that pushes the limits of motherly love as it tells of one woman’s struggle to come to terms with loss.