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.

The Mighty Red

by Louise Erdrich

Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Forgiveness, Fear, Grief, Love, Memory, Shame & Pride, Indigenous Identity, Masculinity, Sexual Identity, Coming of Age, Death, Climate, Environment, Plants, Marriage, Mothers, Colonialism, Community, Politics & Government, Justice

Tags Modern Classic Fiction

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The Ministry Of Utmost Happiness

by Arundhati Roy

Publication year 2017

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Mothers, Love

Tags Asian Literature, Indian Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Asian Literature, Historical Fiction

Spanning the 1950s to the 2010s, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, a 2017 novel by Arundhati Roy, follows the interconnected lives of several characters against the backdrop of contemporary India. The novel skips backwards and forwards in time freely, often pauses for detours into the stories of minor characters and includes several texts within the main text (e.g., Bhartiya’s manifesto, or Tilo’s Kashmiri-English Alphabet). At heart, however, the novel consists of two main narrative threads... Read The Ministry Of Utmost Happiness Summary

The Mother-in-Law

by Sally Hepworth

Publication year 2019

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family, Mothers, Siblings, Self Discovery

Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Modern Classic Fiction

The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth chronicles the turbulent family dynamics of the wealthy Goodwin family. Published in 2019, the crime thriller explores the complexities of motherhood as Lucy Goodwin struggles to uncover the truth behind the tragic death of her mother-in-law, Diana Goodwin. Hepworth’s sixth novel, the book features multiple narrators and flashbacks that offer a suspenseful examination of Lucy’s self-discovery while grappling with the violent death of her family’s complicated matriarch.Content Warning: The Mother-in-Law... Read The Mother-in-Law Summary

The Mothers

by Brit Bennett

Publication year 2016

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family, Shame & Pride, Religion & Spirituality, Mothers, Community, Friendship, Forgiveness, Guilt, Gender Identity, Masculinity, Race, Coming of Age, Self Discovery, Social Class, Truth & Lies

Tags Coming of Age, African American Literature

The Mothers (2016) is the debut literary fiction novel by American author Brit Bennett. Set within a contemporary Black church community in Southern California, the story follows Nadia Turner, a grieving teenager whose decision to terminate a pregnancy creates ripples effects for her, the baby’s father, and her best friend for years to come. The narrative, framed by the collective voice of the church’s elderly women, explores themes including The Corrosive Power of Secrets, Motherhood... Read The Mothers Summary

The Night She Disappeared

by Lisa Jewell

Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Grief, Mothers, Justice, Safety & Danger, Truth & Lies

Tags Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Finance, LGBTQ+, Love & Sexuality, Parenting, Relationships, Trauma & Abuse, Grief & Death, Social Class, Modern Classic Fiction

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The Nix

by Nathan Hill

Publication year 2016

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Mothers

Tags Modern Classic Fiction, World History, Historical Fiction

Nathan Hill’s debut novel, The Nix (2016), is a multigenerational family saga that is as much the story of an American immigrant family rent by betrayal and abandonment as it is a panoramic cultural biography that examines more than 50 years of America’s social, political, and pop culture from Vietnam to the rise of Donald Trump. Little was known about Hill at the time of the novel’s publication; his short stories had only appeared in... Read The Nix Summary

The Other Woman

by Sandie Jones

Publication year 2018

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Mothers, Nature Versus Nurture, Truth & Lies, Trust & Doubt, Forgiveness, Safety & Danger

Tags Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Trauma & Abuse, Modern Classic Fiction

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The Paris Novel

by Ruth Reichl

Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Loneliness, Coming of Age, The Past, Food, Friendship, Mothers, Self Discovery, Art

Tags Modern Classic Fiction, French Literature, Historical Fiction, Romance, Travel Literature, Food

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The Patron Saint of Liars

by Ann Patchett

Publication year 1992

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family, Mothers, Order & Chaos, Truth & Lies

Tags Historical Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction

The Patron Saint of Liars (1992) is Ann Patchett’s debut novel. Since its publication, Patchett has written seven more novels that feature multifaceted characters and plots that explore ambiguous moral dilemmas. These aspects of her work are present in The Patron Saint of Liars as well, which follows the story of Rose, a pregnant young woman who flees her unhappy marriage to live at a home for unwed mothers. The novel was a bestseller and... Read The Patron Saint of Liars Summary

The Pearl That Broke Its Shell

by Nadia Hashimi

Publication year 2014

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Mothers, Fate

Tags Modern Classic Fiction, World History, Historical Fiction, Arts & Culture

The Pearl That Broke Its Shell, first published in 2014, is the debut novel by Afghan-American novelist Nadia Hashimi. Set in Kabul in 2007, it centers on a girl named Rahima and her sisters, who struggle in a family run by their drug-addicted father, Arif. With no brothers, their ability to leave the house, attend school, or earn money is limited. Rahima finds hope in the ancient custom of bacha posh, which allows her to... Read The Pearl That Broke Its Shell Summary