Sweet Baby Mine by Maria Daversa

A dramatic, dialogue-driven portrait of an imploding marriage, Maria Daversa’s Sweet Baby Mine intimately depicts the impact of mental illness and secrets on a partnership. Daversa has a keen eye for powerful description, and the story is a nuanced commentary on how nostalgia can fuel unhealthy relationships past the breaking point. The starkly honest passages about the characters’ pasts and motives create an intimate portrait of the protagonists, which heightens the uncertain moral tension on these pages, weaving together a pervasive sense of psychological stress that is ultimately hopeful. A tense yet delicate exploration of addiction, regret, and toxic cycles of family trauma and abuse, Sweet Baby Mine is an emotive and powerful novel.