Mothers
With classics like J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan and contemporary hits like Min Jin Lee's Pachinko, this collection gathers texts that grapple with the complex and archetypal role of the mother.
Publication year 2023
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Mental Health, Mothers, Daughters & Sons, Perseverance, Regret, Coming of Age, Politics & Government, War, Justice, Family
Tags Historical Fiction, World War II, Military & War, World History, Mental Illness
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Family, Love, Joy, Self Discovery, Future, Mothers
Tags Science Fiction, Fantasy, Magical Realism, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 1985
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Religion & Spirituality, Sexual Identity, Conflict, Love, Shame & Pride, Family, Mothers
Tags LGBTQ+, Life-Inspired Fiction, Coming of Age, Gender & Feminism, Modern Classic Fiction, Classic Fiction, Religion & Spirituality
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit is the debut novel of Jeannette Winterson, originally published on March 21, 1985 by Pandora Press in London. The story is a semi-autobiographical novel that closely follows the childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood of Jeanette, who, like Winterson, is adopted into a Pentecostal Evangelist household and raised in the church. As she grows, she comes to terms with her sexuality as a lesbian and faces condemnation and judgment from... Read Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit Summary
Publication year 2019
Genre Memoir in Verse, Nonfiction
Themes Literature, Childhood & Youth, Family, Mental Health, Perseverance, Race, Coming of Age, Mothers, Self Discovery, Equality, Religion & Spirituality
Tags Biography, Mental Illness
Publication year 2022
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Truth & Lies, Literature, Daughters & Sons, Family, Mothers, Animals, Place, Grief, Memory
Tags Magical Realism, Coming of Age, Grief & Death, Relationships, Science Fiction, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Romance, Fantasy, Religion & Spirituality
Publication year 2024
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Hate & Anger, Hope, Joy, Love, Memory, Shame & Pride, Masculinity, Race, Sexual Identity, The Past, Fathers, Marriage, Mothers, Self Discovery, Social Class, Colonialism, Politics & Government, Equality, Fame, Literature
Publication year 1823
Genre Novella, Fiction
Themes Mothers, Nature Versus Nurture
Tags Classic Fiction, French Literature, Education, Education, Historical Fiction
Written in 1823 by Claire de Duras, Ourika is a French novella based on real events about a Senegalese woman taken as a slave from her native country and raised in French high society. Ourika is one of the first European texts to feature a black protagonist, the psychological depth of whom promotes empathy with the racial “Other” and highlights the importance of nurture (versus nature) in human psychological development. In the Introduction, a young doctor is summoned to an... Read Ourika Summary
Publication year 1997
Genre Novel/Book in Verse, Fiction
Themes Death, Social Class, Place, Climate, Coming of Age, Safety & Danger, Disability, Siblings, Community, Forgiveness, Shame & Pride, Daughters & Sons, Economics, Music, Guilt, Mothers, Art, Loneliness, Hope, Childhood & Youth, Animals, Fathers, Grief, Food, Education
Tags Historical Fiction, Children`s Literature, Coming of Age, Agriculture, US History, Great Depression, Education, Education, World History, Classic Fiction
Karen Hesse’s Out of the Dust is a historical middle-grade novel in verse first published in 1997. Through 110 first-person free verse poems, the narrative tells the story of two years in the life of Billie Jo Kelby, young daughter of a struggling farming family in the Oklahoma Panhandle in the mid-1930s. After a tragic accident results in the death of Billie Jo’s mother and baby brother, she and her father must find a way... Read Out of the Dust Summary
Publication year 2013
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Social Class, Friendship, Sexual Identity, Community, Safety & Danger, Daughters & Sons, Literature, Mothers, Family, Shame & Pride, Nature Versus Nurture, Fathers, Gender Identity, Appearance & Reality, Truth & Lies, Perseverance, Loneliness, Guilt, Hope
Tags Historical Fiction, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Southern Literature, Trauma & Abuse, World History, Romance
Out of the Easy, written by Ruta Sepetys and published in 2013, is a young adult historical fiction novel. Sepetys is an award-winning Lithuanian American writer of young adult historical fiction. Her honors include the Carnegie Medal, awarded to one work of children’s or young adult literature per year. Her novels are international best sellers and are widely translated. Out of the Easy is about Josie, a teenage girl living in the French Quarter of... Read Out of the Easy Summary
Publication year 2017
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Mothers
Tags Historical Fiction, Asian Literature, Korean Literature, Asian Literature, World History, Japanese Literature
Pachinko, written by Min Jin Lee (Free Food for Millionaires) and published in 2017, is the story of five generations of a Korean family living in both Korea and then later Japan from 1910 to 1989. Pachinko was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction in 2017. In Book 1, “Gohyang/Hometown 1910-1933,” the opening setting is the village of Yeongdo, Korea. The reader is introduced to the first generation of the family, the... Read Pachinko Summary
Publication year 2023
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Mental Health, Mothers, Childhood & Youth
Tags Arts & Culture, Gender & Feminism, Trauma & Abuse
Publication year 2017
Genre Graphic Novel/Book, Fiction
Themes Race, Coming of Age, Family, Mothers, Self Discovery, Immigration, Religion & Spirituality
Tags Children`s Literature, Magical Realism, Indian Literature, Fantasy
Publication year 2012
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Fear, Guilt, Hope, Love, Memory, Childhood & Youth, Daughters & Sons, Family, Mothers, Community, Fate, Good & Evil, Justice, Safety & Danger, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies
Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense
Publication year 2008
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Mothers
Tags Jewish Literature, Mystery & Crime Fiction, World History, Historical Fiction, Religion & Spirituality
Geraldine Brooks’s People of the Book (2008) is a historical fiction novel about a book conservator named Dr. Hanna Heath and her intensive research on the history of the famous Sarajevo Haggadah. The book is an imagined history following the real clues found in the manuscript, and the novel jumps back and forth between Hanna’s findings and historical events that brought the book to its current home in the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina... Read People of the Book Summary
Publication year 1911
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Mothers, Childhood & Youth
Tags Fairy Tale & Folklore, Classic Fiction, Action & Adventure, Children`s Literature, Fantasy
Author James Matthew Barrie adapted his 1904 play Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up to novel in 1911 with the hit Wendy and Peter, known today simply as the timeless classic Peter Pan. The mischievous character Peter Pan first appeared in Barrie's 1902 novel The Little White Bird and later in the 1906 novel Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. Barrie's works explore themes of coming-of-age, the importance of imagination, the clash of... Read Peter Pan Summary
Publication year 1956
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Gender Identity, Sexual Identity, Social Class, Shame & Pride, Femininity, Mental Health, Childhood & Youth, Coming of Age, Midlife, Appearance & Reality, Daughters & Sons, Family, Mothers, Community, Education, Self Discovery
Tags Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Coming of Age, Modern Classic Fiction, Romance
Peyton Place is a novel depicting sensational and melodramatic events in a small New England town in the 1930s and 1940s; it was written by American novelist Grace Metalious and published in 1956. Peyton Place provoked controversy due to its depiction of taboo topics including sexuality, sexual abuse, and abortion. Nonetheless, the novel sold extremely well, and it was also adapted into successful films and television series. Metalious explores themes such as Shame and Ambivalence... Read Peyton Place Summary
Publication year 2011
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Family, Perseverance, Gratitude, Grief, Love, Coming of Age, Daughters & Sons, Friendship, Mothers, Community, Loyalty & Betrayal
Tags Food, Children`s Literature, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Animals, Realistic Fiction, Historical Fiction
... Read Pie Summary
Publication year 2018
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Mothers, Self Discovery, Safety & Danger, Justice, Good & Evil, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies
Tags Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Trauma & Abuse, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 1999
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Mothers, Family
Tags Modern Classic Fiction
Kent Haruf's Plainsong was published in 1999 and addresses such powerful themes as community, acceptance and loneliness, as well as the effects of isolation on the individual. The novel focuses on several storylines and takes place in the high plains of eastern Colorado. The characters face daunting trials and tribulations, and many of their paths cross with one another.Other works by this author include Our Souls At Night, Benediction, and Eventide.In Holt, Colorado, Tom Guthrie... Read Plainsong Summary
Publication year 2000
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Truth & Lies, Religion & Spirituality, Guilt, Mothers, Justice
Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction
Jodi Picoult’s legal and psychological drama, Plain Truth (2000), plunges into the insulated world of the Old Order Amish in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. When a newborn baby is found dead in a barn, circumstantial evidence points to Katie Fisher, an unmarried 18-year-old Amish woman, as the mother and murderer. A disillusioned Philadelphia defense attorney, Ellie Hathaway, takes the case, driven by a distant family connection and a burgeoning personal crisis. To satisfy bail conditions, Ellie... Read Plain Truth Summary