Mother’s Day

I know people have varied feelings about Mother’s Day, from love to loath. On the first Mother’s Day after I had my kid, I didn’t feel so rosy about the holiday. Folks asked me how I wanted to celebrate, and all I desired was to get as far away from my infant as possible (they were three months old, folks; it was the rough days). And that didn’t feel very good. That year, we skipped Mother’s Day in our house. But generally I like holidays that remind us to give thanks and hugs to people in our lives. And I like picking out fun presents for my mom and getting hand-crafted presents from my kid.

Literature is often unkind to mothers. In many kids’ books, the mothers are distracted, useless, or dead leaving the protagonists independent for their adventures. Books for grown-ups love to show unvarnished portraits of mothers. 

Here are a few recommended books that approach motherhood from different angles. I hope you enjoy them, and that you spent your mother’s day however your heart desired.

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan, 2022

This scorching depiction of motherhood takes place in a near-realistic totalitarian regime where mistreatment of children by their parents leads to punishing incarceration, in the guise of a training center. I was struck by how many layers of judgment Chan exposed — the government’s and expert’s judgment, of course, but also our self critique and that of our peers. While I sympathized with the characters, thinking that the punishment did not fit their crime, I also found myself thinking, “but at least I’d never do anything like that!” 

Something Worth Doing by Jane Kirkpatrick, 2020

This historical fiction novel follows the life of Abigail Scott Duniway, an early suffragette. As she tries to make a life that works for her — fighting for rights for women, writing, and having a family — she also deals with the twin feelings of guilt and entrapment that mothers can experience. If she had been less of an activist, would her children have been better off? she wonders.

Mother Land by Leah Franqui, 2020

On a lighter note, this comedic novel finds Rachel newly married and transplanted to India with her husband. Before she knows what’s happening, her mother-in-law Swati moves in, permanently. The two women, from different worlds, take a long time to find connections. Their relationship is complicated and wonderful.