Amazon.com Review
An Amazon Best Book of May 2022: The Other Mother is a complex story set over 30 years, weaving two families together—whether they like it or not. It opens on Jenry’s first day at college, which happens to be the alma mater of his mother, who raised him alone, and his famous ballet dancer father, whom Jenry never knew. The narrative is told via rotating character perspectives, alternating two timelines: present day, and the early years of his parents lives and relationship. I love the way the author starts with a narrow viewpoint and then widens the lens, immersing you deeper into the story—uncovering facts and questions through each twist and turn. I had big feelings about this book, physically hugging it while feeling all the emotions tingling throughout my body after reading the last words. The journey through the ups and downs of life; love, secrets, growth, and forgiveness, captured me and will leave me thinking about this one for quite a while. —Kami Tei, Amazon Editorial Contributor Review
*Winner of the Stonewall Book Award - Barbara Gittings Literature Award for Fiction*
Finalist for the Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBTQ Fiction
Shortlisted for the 2022 Over the Rainbow Recommended Book List
An Amazon Best Book of the Year
“Extraordinary . . . This book breaks new ground.” —Alice Walker, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Color Purple
"Harper’s third novel is remarkable for its impeccable and illuminating structure . . . a daunting aerial shot of a family melodrama that gets close enough to depict the gray areas of being human." —Annie Berke, The Washington Post
"Gripping." —Angela Haupt, A Time Best Book of the Month
"As suspenseful as it is touching . . . A queer generational saga set in academia? Sold." —Sophia June, NYLON
"[A] singular and compelling story of family secrets" —Karla Strand, Ms.
"A gripping multigenerational family story . . . This emotionally complex and deftly told story centers Black queer women whose choices come from a place of love and agency." —Sarah Neilson, Shondaland
"[The Other Mother is] full of characters who are raucous in their humanness: striving, hurting, loving. I wanted to read about them forever—and I can’t wait to revisit them, because this one is going straight to the top of the reread list." —Laura Sackton, A Book Riot Best Book Of The Year
"Riveting . . . Harper skillfully layers the narrative with accounts from the various characters’ points of view, capturing palpable emotions and the fissures running through their fraught relations, all the while handling themes of motherhood, race, and sexuality with aplomb. This adds up to a heartrending story." —Publishers Weekly
"A sprawling, multigenerational portrait of a mixed-race family that begins with a man's quest to uncover the truth of his origins . . . Harper has created a novel about longing, loss, kinship, talent, queerness, and what makes a family . . . A novel about the families we inherit and the ones we make for ourselves." —Kirkus Reviews
“The Other Mother breaks every rule of traditional world-building and creates the kind of full-hearted literary saga we are lucky to get once every generation. Dazzling.” —Kiese Laymon, author of Long Division and Heavy: An American Memoir
“In her gripping novel The Other Mother, Rachel M. Harper challenges outdated ideals of family and motherhood, drawing us into a world where women choose themselves first—and we witness the beautiful avalanche of loss and heartbreaking erasure that follows. This book is for anyone who has lived in the shadow of another and wanted something more. I couldn’t put it down.” —Jodie Patterson, author of The Bold World: A Memoir of Family and Transformation
“A riveting, suspenseful, tender, kaleidoscopic rewriting of the American family—formed as much by blood and memory as by desire, will, and even deception. In Rachel M. Harper's masterful hands, ideas of family are exploded and put back together in an epic story as compelling as it is necessary. Harper has written a modern American saga that defines what we are and who we might become. This is an exquisite novel.” —Danzy Senna, author of Caucasia and New People
About the Author
RACHEL M. HARPER is the author of the novels Brass Ankle Blues and This Side of Providence, which was short-listed for the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence. Her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and has been widely published and anthologized. Harper has received fellowships from Yaddo and MacDowell, and is on the faculty at Spalding University’s School of Writing. She lives in Los Angeles.
