Mother Is Watching
- Judith D Collins
- Mar 16
- 5 min read
By: Karma Brown
Narrator: Karissa Vacker
ISBN: 9798217045716
Publisher: Dutton
Publication Date: 03/17/2026
Format: Other
My Rating: 4 Stars (ARC)
The chilling horror debut from a #1 international bestselling author—an art conservator’s obsession with a mysterious painting spirals into a nightmarish descent, where the line between reality and the supernatural shatters, threatening both her sanity and her life
Mathilde "Tilly" Crewson, a thirty-nine-year-old mother and art conservator, is tasked with restoring The Mother. The painting, believed to be the work of a female surgeon-turned-artist after a personal tragedy, is the rumored fourth piece in a collection of only three known works. But this newly discovered painting, scarred by fire, holds more than meets the eye.
Soon after receiving the painting, Tilly discovers she’s unexpectedly pregnant, and strange, inexplicable occurrences begin: terrifying insect swarms, eerie visits from her long-deceased mother, and sinister whispers that invade her mind. As these malevolent forces intensify, Tilly comes to a harrowing realization: the only way to sever the perilous bond she shares with the painting is to destroy it. But The Mother has plans of her own—and they’re darker than Tilly could ever imagine. . . .
My Review
In Karma Brown's gripping horror debut, MOTHER IS WATCHING, set in the unsettling near-future, the narrative follows Mathilde "Tilly" Crewson, a 39-year-old art conservator navigating a dystopian Savannah, Georgia.
Amidst the crumbling remnants of a society plagued by uncertainty and fear, Tilly's intricate work preserving the past becomes increasingly perilous. As she delves deeper into her craft, she uncovers dark secrets that threaten not only her but the very fabric of her world. The haunting backdrop of Savannah, with its eerie beauty and creeping shadows, serves as a chilling canvas for a tale of suspense and survival.
Highlights...
The Setting:
Following a global pandemic that decimated male fertility, society is obsessed with increasing the birth rate. Women's bodies are monitored by the government through technologies like wearable AI trackers and programs like MotherWise.
The Assignment:
Tilly is hired to restore a mysterious, fire-scarred painting titled The Mother. It is the rumored fourth piece by Charlotte Leclerc, a surgeon-turned-artist who allegedly used human biological materials (blood, fingernails) in her work.
The Catalyst:
Shortly after starting the restoration, Tilly discovers she is unexpectedly pregnant. This coincides with a series of creepy, supernatural occurrences:
~Terrifying insect swarms
~Eerie visitations from her long-deceased mother.
~Sinister whispers and "tendrils" emerging from the painting.
~Physical manifestations like strange bruises and pulsing spinal fluid within the art.
The Conflict:
As the malevolent forces intensify, Tilly realizes the painting has a "perilous bond" with her. She concludes that the only way to save herself and her family is to destroy the artwork.
The Climax/Ending: The narrative builds to a "shattering" and "spectacular" explosion of events where the lines between Tilly's psychological state and the supernatural influence of the painting completely shatter.
My thoughts...
MOTHER IS WATCHING is a blend of dystopian sci-fi and gothic horror, focusing on a small group of characters navigating a high-stakes dystopian fertility crisis.
Characters...
~Mathilde "Tilly" Crewson: A 39-year-old art conservator and the protagonist.
~Wyatt Crewson: Tilly’s husband.
~Clementine: Tilly and Wyatt’s young daughter.
~Charlotte Leclerc: The "macabre" surgeon-turned-artist who created The Mother.
~Tilly’s Mother: Deceased before the book begins.
~MotherWise: Not human. An AI monitoring program acts as a character-like presence, constantly tracking Tilly's physical state.
Karma Brown explores several interconnected themes that blend dystopian sci-fi with psychological and gothic horror.
~Bodily Autonomy and Surveillance
~The Weight of Motherhood and Identity
~Grief and Loss
~The Power of Art
~Technocratic Patriarchy
MOTHER IS WATCHING is a blend of Margaret Atwood’s feminist dystopian themes and a modern psychological horror thriller. Both novels explore how women are reduced to their biological function. A society where doctors and husbands police every move.
Atmospheric and claustrophobic, there is a persistent sense of "creeping dread" as the supernatural elements slowly take over. MOTHER IS WATCHING deals with a world obsessed with biological data, fertility tracking, and the manipulation of human life through technology.
The "villain" isn't just a person, but a system of high-tech control that monitors every heartbeat and hormone level, and their bodies are treated as state property.
The core takeaway of MOTHER IS WATCHING is a warning about the loss of bodily autonomy in the face of technology and state control, delivering several powerful messages:
~Surveillance as Control
~The Weight of Expectations
~Confronting Traumatic Legacy
~Resistance Through Reclamation
Although I am typically not a fan of genres like science fiction, horror, or dystopian narratives, I was immediately drawn to the captivating cover of this book. Having enjoyed the author's previous works, I felt compelled to give this one a chance, intrigued by the artistry and the promise of a compelling story within.
Special thanks to Dutton and NetGalley for providing an advanced reading copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 4 Stars
Pub Date: Mar 17, 2026
Praise
Karma Brown explodes onto the horror scene with a terrifying tale . . . Proceed with caution!”
—Julie Clark, New York Times bestselling author
“Mother is Watching is eerie, compulsive, almost fanatical, about the fine line between motherhood and grief, and obsession and reality—a gripping, chilling entrance into the horror genre for the brilliant Karma Brown.”
—Ashley Tate, #1 national bestseller of Twenty-Seven Minutes
“Mother is Watching is a page-turning nightmare of a novel featuring a maybe-possession as well as a too-possible future technocratic patriarchy. Not since Ira Levin's Rosemary Woodhouse have I been as stressed out and scared for a mother-to-be as I was for Tilly.”
—Paul Tremblay, New York Times bestselling author of Horror Movie and A Head Full of Ghosts
“With Mother is Watching, Karma Brown once again proves she’s an absolute powerhouse of an author, no matter the genre she chooses. Her first horror novel is smart, timely, intensely creepy, and delivers a downright horrifying ending. Read this one with all the lights on!”
—Hannah Mary McKinnon, internationally bestselling author of A Killer Motive
“Haunting, visceral, and eerily compelling, Karma Brown has expertly blended genres with Mother is Watching. Horror, dystopian, and feminist literature all fit together perfectly—it’s like Margaret Atwood meets psychological thriller, in the best way possible. You’ll never look at motherhood the same way again once you read this, Brown prods at it from angles you didn’t know were there, making it impossible to look away.”
—Kristen Perrin, New York Times bestselling author of How to Solve Your Own Murder
“The horror in Mother is Watching is not just Frankenstein by way of art conservation—which it is, terrifyingly—but the chilling near-future Karma Brown paints: one in which motherhood is commodified and controlled, and grief is the monster that must not be reanimated. I flew through this novel from the first page to its shattering end.”
—Katie Gutierrez, bestselling author of More Than You'll Ever Know
“Beginning with a quote from The Picture of Dorian Grey, Brown’s horror debut more than delivers on that ominous foreshadowing with a tale that begins uneasily and steadily builds to all consuming terror. . . . Compelling, immersive, and psychologically unnerving.”
—ALA Booklist
“A riveting and insightful ghost story about parental grief and bodily autonomy, this is sure to linger with readers long after the final page.”
—Publisher's Weekly
“Brown’s cursed-media horror features an eerie painting that will have readers questioning what’s real or imagined.”
—Library Journal
About the Author
Karma Brown is the author of five novels: the #1 international bestseller Recipe for a Perfect Wife, Come Away with Me (a Globe and Mail Best Book of 2015), Globe and Mail and Toronto Star bestsellers The Choices We Make and In This Moment, and The Life Lucy Knew. She is also the author of The 4% Fix: How One Hour Can Change Your Life. An award-winning journalist, Karma has been published in SELF, Redbook, and Today’s Parent, among others. She lives just outside Toronto with her husband, daughter, and a Labradoodle named Fred. READ MORE
