‘Baby Teeth’ by Celia Silvani: a clever, gripping page-turner

Baby Teeth by Celia Silvani is a clever, astute and spine-tingling read. Fraught with tension and a sense of subtle unease, it left me feeling as though something bad was just around the corner. 

Baby Teeth tells the story of Claire, a newly expectant mother, who has struggled to fall pregnant for months. Now that she is pregnant, her dream is starting to feel more like a nightmare. The doctors and nurses are cold and distant, her husband has reduced her concerns to mere anxieties, and her family thinks this is all just a passing phase. Everyone thinks they know best, but isn’t that a mother’s job?

Isolated and vulnerable, Claire finds herself drawn into online ‘mummy forums’ for groups of women who believe in natural and ‘free’ birthing. One group in particular called ‘The Secret Goddesses’ slowly become an all-consuming obsession of hers. She begins talking to these women online for hours, reading their stories and finding a kinship and connection that she so desperately craves. She starts to confide solely in them rather than her husband, friends and family.

However, the more she withdraws into their world, the more unsettled she starts to feel. The group’s complete shunning of any medical intervention and refusal to sway from their beliefs starts to raise concerns – they seem intent on being right, but at what cost? 

“Silvani has tackled these important and ever-relevant themes in a clever, gripping and page-turning way”

Silvani writes effortlessly on the distress and vulnerability of pregnancy, maternal care and motherhood. Combined with the pressures of social media and the information overload of the internet, it is no wonder that the tension in the book is so palpable. Claire’s character, although frustrating at times, is always relatable. 

Silvani does a brilliant job of creating empathy for her characters and the choices that they make, even though we may not always understand them. Using a clever switch in perspective, we suddenly see another side of the protagonist and likewise, we gain a glimpse into the life of one of the more controversial characters, Flora, one of the main ‘Goddesses’. 

The traumas and anxieties associated with infertility is another topic that is adeptly handled in the book. We see the toll that it takes on Claire in the beginning and then again, we see it later through the character of Claire’s new friend, Taya. A ‘hostile environment’ is how the doctors describe her womb when she is finally denied any further rounds of IVF. The distress and suffering that this causes Taya is clear and saddening. 

What this highlighted for me is how harsh and alienating medical language and care around fertility struggles can be, it seems to suggest that the failure to conceive is the failure of the mother. This works further to demonstrate the many ways in which women may feel isolated, vulnerable and desperate for advocacy in their motherhood journey.

Silvani has tackled these important and ever-relevant themes in a clever, gripping and page-turning way. The story is character driven and through her cleverly drawn-out protagonists, Silvani manages to deliver insight and understanding in a poignant way. Shocking revelations, a dark online sisterhood, a sense of mounting dread as the finale approaches – Baby Teeth truly has it all! 

This blog was written by our book club volunteer, Jess Pagel.

Jess is a financial analyst living in London but originally from South Africa. Jess loves London and takes great inspiration from the city. She has a passion for reading and creative writing and tries to fill her spare time following these pursuits.

She graduated from the University of Cape Town with a degree in Marketing and Economics. You can find her on Instagram at @jess_pagel or you can read more of her book reviews at @fiftytwo_books. 

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