A good book is a good book, whatever mood you are in or whatever your time of life, but sometimes your personal circumstances do make a story or a character in a story more pertinent.
And I couldn't have read Love In The Present Tense, which is essentially the story of a mother's love for her son and his love for her, at a time when it would have been more relevant to me.
It tells the story of Pearl, a young mother with a troubled past who mysteriously disappears one day and abandons her beloved son Leonard with her 25-year-old neighbour, Mitch.
He suddenly must assume responsibility for the boy while running his own business and carrying on an affair with a client's wife.
Told from the point of view of each of these three characters and not in strict chronological order, it is first and foremost a gripping story as we learn what has happened to Pearl and also what the future holds for Leonard and Mitch.
But as I said fundamentally it is about the bond that unites an adult and child, especially a mother and son – even when Pearl is not there, Leonard still imagines her present.
Which is exactly what you want to read when you've just given birth to a baby boy.