The Mothers

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 as Both Aspiration and Burden, and The Lifelong Process of Forgiveness.

Bennett is a graduate of Stanford University and earned her MFA in fiction from the Helen Zell Writers’ Program at the University of Michigan. For The Mothers, she was recognized as a “5 Under 35” honoree by the National Book Foundation, and the novel became a New York Times bestseller. Her second novel, The Vanishing Half (2020), was also a major critical and commercial success. A film adaptation of The Mothers is in development with Warner Bros.

This guide refers to the 2016 Riverhead Books edition.

Content Warning: The source material and this guide contain discussions of pregnancy termination, death by suicide, sexual content, child sexual abuse, physical abuse, and substance use.

Plot Summary

The narrative opens with the collective voice of the Mothers, a group of elderly women from the Upper Room Chapel in Oceanside, California. They establish themselves as the story’s omniscient, gossiping chorus, introducing the secret that drives the novel, 17-year-old Nadia Turner’s pregnancy by the pastor’s son, Luke Sheppard, and her subsequent termination of the pregnancy. Nadia is a high school senior reeling from her mother’s death by suicide six months prior. She lives with her stoic father Robert, a Marine, and has developed a wild reputation as she copes with her grief. Her secret relationship with Luke, who is 21 and working at a seafood restaurant after a football injury ended his college scholarship, leads to an accidental pregnancy.

Nadia tells Luke that she is pregnant and intends to terminate the pregnancy, determined to attend the University of Michigan and escape her life in Oceanside. Luke, unable to pay for the procedure himself, confesses to his parents, Pastor John Sheppard and First Lady Latrice Sheppard. Latrice provides the $600 needed for the procedure, viewing it as a way to protect her son and family from scandal. Nadia goes to the clinic alone and asks Luke not to wait with her, but he fails to pick her up afterward, leaving her feeling abandoned. The relationship ends, and days later, Nadia gets drunk at a party and crashes her father’s truck, disappointing him and fueling gossip at Upper Room.

As a condition of her father’s forgiveness, Nadia is forced to take a summer job as an assistant to Mrs. Sheppard. At the church, she develops a close friendship with Aubrey Evans, a quiet and devout girl who is new to town. Aubrey, who lives with her older sister Monique and Monique’s girlfriend Kasey, is estranged from her own mother after enduring abuse from her mother’s boyfriend. While Aubrey is embraced by the church community, particularly by Mrs. Sheppard, Nadia feels like an outsider. The friendship between the two girls deepens over the summer as they confide in each other about their absent mothers. At the end of the summer, Nadia leaves for college, feeling alienated from her home and her past.

In Ann Arbor, Nadia builds a new life. She begins a relationship with a fellow student, Shadi, and excels academically, eventually studying abroad in Oxford. She rarely returns to Oceanside, maintaining minimal contact with her father and Aubrey. Meanwhile, Luke, whose college football career had already been ended by an injury, is brutally beaten by teammates on his semi-pro team when they mistakenly believe he is having an affair with a fellow player’s wife. This second major injury lands him in a long-term rehabilitation facility. Aubrey begins visiting him, offering comfort and companionship. After his release, they start a relationship, and Luke, inspired by his recovery, begins studying to become a physical therapy assistant.

Years later, Luke and Aubrey get engaged. Nadia returns to Oceanside for the wedding with Shadi, and the visit is fraught with tension. At the bridal shower, Luke gives Nadia her mother’s long-lost prayer book, rekindling their connection. At the reception, Mrs. Sheppard confronts Nadia, revealing that she was the one who provided the money to terminate the pregnancy and warning her to stay away from her son.

After their wedding, Aubrey and Luke struggle with infertility. Aubrey undergoes medical consultations, and Nadia, who has returned home after her father was hospitalized with a severe injury from a weightlifting accident, accompanies her to an appointment. While caring for her father, Nadia rekindles her relationship with Luke, and they begin an affair, meeting secretly at her father’s house while Aubrey is at work. Nadia is torn between her lingering feelings for Luke and her guilt over betraying her best friend.

Aubrey eventually discovers the affair and confronts Luke, who confesses. She leaves him and moves back in with her sister. A few weeks later, she confronts Nadia at her home, ending their friendship. Nadia’s attempts to apologize are rejected. The truth about the affair spreads through the church community, along with the long-held secret of the termination of pregnancy, creating a scandal that destroys the Sheppards’ reputation and leads to the eventual closure of Upper Room Chapel.

In the aftermath, Aubrey, who has already moved out, discovers she is pregnant. Luke, remorseful, wants to reconcile and be a father to their child. Nadia’s father discovers the truth about her pregnancy termination and confronts her, then the two go together to confront Pastor Sheppard. This confrontation leads to a permanent break between Robert and the Upper Room community. Realizing her life in Oceanside is over, Nadia decides to leave for good. Before she departs for the airport, she visits Aubrey one last time. The two have a final, emotionally complex conversation, acknowledging their shared history and separate futures. The novel closes years later with the Mothers’ narration. They reflect on the lives of Nadia, Luke, and Aubrey, and describe seeing Nadia in town one last time, helping her father move away. They contemplate the enduring, tangled legacy of love, loss, and the secrets that bound them all together.