As a mom of three who's struggled to find a balance between parenting, career, and meeting my own needs, I'm intensely interested in the way our society views motherhood. There are so many different ways to become a mother and so many different opinions about what makes a “good mom.” On the one hand, our culture has incredibly high expectations and seems to judge women no matter what choices they make. At the same time, we don’t offer struggling moms basic supports like low-cost childcare, mental health benefits, or paid maternity leave. I love reading novels that recognize this paradox and take a generous view of the many definitions of motherhood.
This book made me laugh and cry in equal measure. Laurie Frankel writes about motherhood and families with such wit, charm, and frankness that I always feel like I’m being invited right into her characters’ lives, being asked to pull up a chair at their kitchen table.
Through multiple perspectives and dual timelines, the story dives deep into the question of whether it’s genetics or dedication or love—or some complicated mix of all three—that makes someone a mother. I loved Frankel’s expansive perspective on the meaning of family, and the way she offers examples of biological moms, adoptive moms, and moms making unexpected choices, but all doing their best.
India Allwood grew up wanting to be an actress. Armed with a stack of index cards (which, torn into pieces, also function as make-shift confetti) and a hell of a lot of talent, she goes from awkward 16-year-old to Broadway ingenue to tv star.
But while promoting her most recent project, a film about adoption, India does what you should never do - she tells a journalist the truth: it's a bad movie. Like so many movies about adoption, it tells only one story, a tragic one. But India's an adoptive mum herself and knows there's so much more to…
At first glance, this doesn't seem to be a book about motherhood, but Vanderah beautifully illustrates how the word “mother” can be more of a verb than a noun. I raced through this story, captivated by the precocious child character, Ursa, and rooting for the accidental guardians who try to protect her. The questions surrounding Ursa’s sudden appearance quickly drew me in, but then the book became so much more than a mystery.
Joanna, the main character, has no biological children but very much becomes a mother to Ursa in the story. I loved the organic, natural way their relationship develops and how they each teach the other to love and trust again. The sweet, inspiring ending made me want to read all of Vanderah’s books.
An Amazon Charts, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post bestseller, and a Goodreads Choice Award finalist.
In this gorgeously stunning debut, a mysterious child teaches two strangers how to love and trust again.
After the loss of her mother and her own battle with breast cancer, Joanna Teale returns to her graduate research on nesting birds in rural Illinois, determined to prove that her recent hardships have not broken her. She throws herself into her work from dusk to dawn, until her solitary routine is disrupted by the appearance of a mysterious child who shows up at her cabin barefoot…
This book describes the intensity of new motherhood so accurately that I was surprised to realize it was written by a man! It brought back memories of the newborn days with my own three kids, when I was drowning in exhaustion, anxiety, and breastmilk but also felt overwhelmed with joy and love.
When the main character decides to step in and adopt a second baby—the child of her nanny, who dies in childbirth—we get to see how mothering is both the same and different when your baby doesn’t share your genes or even your skin color. I loved how the book doesn’t give easy answers to the sticky questions around transracial adoption but instead leaves the reader pondering. I read this one years ago, and I’m still thinking about it!
NAMED A RECOMMENDED BOOK OF 2018 BY: Buzzfeed • The Boston Globe • The Millions • InStyle • Southern Living • Vogue • Popsugar • Kirkus • The Washington Post • Library Journal • Real Simple • NPR
“With his unerring eye for nuance and unsparing sense of irony, Rumaan Alam’s second novel is both heartfelt and thought-provoking.” — Celeste Ng, author of Little Fires Everywhere
From the bestselling author of Leave the World Behind, a novel about the families we fight to build and those we fight to keep
Like many first-time mothers, Rebecca Stone finds herself both deeply…
I couldn’t put this one down! I kept asking myself what I would have done if I was in the same situation as Sarah, who found herself accidentally kidnapping a child to protect her from an abusive mom. The story made me think deeply about whether biology or bonding should matter more when deciding who deserves to raise a child.
I love it when authors aren’t afraid to dive into the perspective of unlikeable characters, and I appreciated that Frey gives us chapters from the perspective of the biological mom, whose misery and overwhelm I found relatable even as her parenting choices made me cringe.
Emma Grace Townsend. Five years old. Gray eyes. Brown hair. Missing since June.
Emma Townsend is lonely. Living with her cruel mother and clueless father, Emma retreats into her own world of quiet and solitude.
Sarah Walker. Successful entrepreneur. Broken-hearted. Abandoned by her mother. Kidnapper.
Sarah has never seen a girl so precious as the gray-eyed child in a crowded airport terminal - and when a second-chance encounter with Emma presents itself, Sarah takes her, far away from home. But if it's to rescue a little girl from her damaging mother, is kidnapping wrong?
I read this book during a camping trip with my family, and I got so sucked into the story that I kept sneaking off to read in the tent (which seems appropriate, given the plot). We’ve all read stories about husbands and fathers who hide secret second families, but in this case, it’s a mother who is secretly married to two different men.
The story illustrates how mothers are human and flawed like everyone else, and it made me reflect on all the ways our culture expects women to sacrifice for their families. I found myself questioning what we mothers owe to our children versus what we owe to ourselves.
Lore Rivera was married to two men at once. She led a secret double life - until one man shot the other. That's the story the world knows.
But true-crime writer Cassie Bowman wants to know more - about the mysterious woman at the heart of it all, and about what really happened the night of that tragic murder. How did Lore lead two lives? How did it feel when it all came crashing down?
After years of hiding, Lore is finally ready to tell her story. But as her tragic tale unfolds, will either woman be ready for the…
My book is a love letter to the messiness of motherhood. It tells the story of three very different women who all want custody of the same two little girls.
Widowed mom Hannah ignores her increasing exhaustion and isolation until a disastrous mistake lands her daughters in foster care. The more the girls’ foster mom bonds with them, the more she worries about their previous home life and becomes intent on keeping them. Meanwhile, Hannah’s estranged mother thinks rescuing her granddaughters will be her one chance at a parenting do-over. Each woman thinks she’s the best possible mother, but none understands the full truth. Old hurts, long-held secrets, and budding new relationships collide as they fight for the girls who could make them a family.
Tasha and the Biologist is the second book in the "A Better Man" series. It's a contemporary romance about second chances, two lonely birders, and the healing power of love.
Tasha Moore is a visiting nurse with a family secret. She just went through a bad breakup. Caleb Drexel is a bird biologist trying to start a new life in a small town. He just got out of an unhappy marriage.
What happens when hope and romance bloom between these two nature lovers?
Tasha He was handsome, confident, nice, smart—a good guy. How did he end up here in the middle of Indiana? And how did he know so much about whooping cranes? I’d never met someone as passionate about birds as I was. Was it too soon for me to be thinking about love again? Caleb She was sweet, kind, caring—a nurse and a birder. I really liked her. Maybe more than liked. And I’d only spent two hours—three, tops—with her. Yet, I’d promised myself I wouldn’t get involved with anyone for at least a year after my divorce.
