Press Reviews

• Julia Bueno, author of THE BRINK OF BEING

  Maxwell explores uncomfortable but important truths about motherhood brilliantly in her story of a mother falling apart, and piecing herself back together

• Emma Gannon, author of OLIVE

  A richly textured, exciting and mysterious debut novel showing the push and pull of motherhood, career identity and what it means to be a woman with multiple sides. Relatable and entertaining. I was absolutely glued to it

• Francesca Hornak, author of Seven Days of Us

  A vivid, compelling story about the unspoken truths of motherhood, family and feminine ideals. Tender, unflinching and beautifully evoked

• Leah Hazard, bestselling author of Hard Pushed

  An engaging parable about the ambiguity of modern motherhood, told with warmth and wit

• Charlotte Philby, author of Edith and Kim

  Hush is a beautifully-written meditation on motherhood, identity and belonging - at once tender and resilient, incisive and heart-breaking. In this assured debut, Kate Maxwell captures how love grows and morphs and, ultimately, endures

• Harriet Walker, author of The New Girl

  Hush will break and remake your heart in one sitting. A wry and tender story that considers the potential for all strands of female life - friends, family, career - to become the loves of your life. This poignant tale of the blur of new motherhood will make you check in on your children if you have them - and on the woman you were before they arrived. I loved it

• Libby Page, bestselling author of The Island Home

  I ADORED Hush. I have never read anything that so accurately voiced the struggles I experienced as a new mother. It felt totally real to me and I was hooked from start to finish. I also loved all the other relationships that were so nuanced and heartfelt. I finished the book with that wonderful ache you get after reading a book that has moved you and uplifted you in equal measure

• Charlene Carr, author of Hold My Girl (2023)

  With sharp, perceptive, and tender prose that is at times scathing, Maxwell pushes the boundaries of what society tells us is acceptable, and perhaps what the reader feels she can forgive, then brings us back again to not only empathize with but root for her protagonist. Maxwell shows a type of motherly love seldom written about, one that's not instantaneous, but grows slowly, with difficulty, and is no less beautiful as it blossoms into something so incredible it takes your breath away

• Grazia, a Hot Debut

  An unflinching look at both work-as-identity and modern parenting

• Metro

  Hush dishes out brutal honesty around motherhood and is by turns shocking and tender

• Waterstones

  Longing to have a child, Stevie changes her Manhattan career-oriented life for single parenthood in her native England in Maxwell's powerful, nuanced meditation on the struggles experienced by new mothers

• The i Paper

  A beautifully written meditation on motherhood

• Cosmopolitan

  A daring, compelling novel about motherhood

• Irish Independent

  In terms of hype, debuts don't come any hotter than Kate Maxwell's Hush, which features a new riff on motherhood in an increasingly crowded pen... Utterly compelling

• Harper's Bazaar

  Skilfully written by the fresh new voice, Kate Maxwell, this debut brilliantly explores the societal expectations put on women through the compelling Stevie, and gives us a worthy protagonist for this modern age

• Daily Mail

  This beautifully written debut explores what it really means to choose to go it alone as a single mother, as well as the unforeseen consequences of that choice... I loved everything about this emotionally intelligent, compelling, raw and original book. Fabulous

• Sophia Blackwell

  Beautifully written, with a nuanced understanding of what it means to lose sight of who you are, for whatever reason, and what it means to get yourself back or burn it all down and start again

• The Lady

  Kate Maxwell's debut novel explores the complexities and emotional roller-coaster of single motherhood... Well-researched and compelling

• Clover Stroud

  I devoured this book - it was so compelling

• Emma Barnett, BBC Broadcaster

  Hush is layered, rich and captures so much I can relate to. Bravo