The tree of hands (1984)

Three mothers' lives become connected through bereavement, deprivation and a disastrous attempt to put things right. Rendell makes the inequalities between their circumstances part of the suspense: what can look like rescue from one household may be a violation of another. The attraction is the collision between protective feeling and possessiveness, without a simple equation of motherhood with goodness. Child loss, kidnapping and violence make this a difficult choice; it is a standalone novel, not a Wexford investigation.