Reader Submissions: Book Mothers
And some who really shouldn't be #73
Note: the second Sunday in May can be a tough time for some people. If that’s you, and the very thought of the whole blankety-blank topic is triggering, please take care and skip this week. Maybe check out some Investigative Non-Fiction or Good Food in Good Books from the archive.
Suggesting books about mothers is a little bit like suggesting books with words, because turns out that mothers, mothers’ love, mothers’ failings, mothers’ teachings, etc so on and what have you, is a Very Popular Topic! Like … it doesn’t really narrow anything down. And when you look up “great mothers in literature” everyone seems to have borrowed from each other with consistent results of: Marmee from Little Women (obvs), Molly Weasley from Harry Potter (sure, okay), Ma in Room (yikes, but yes, 100%), and some characters from Game of Thrones that I didn’t recognize and can’t be bothered to look up again because I neither read the books nor watched the shows. Yes, I’m 100% that … person. But also, really, Game of Thrones?
Interestingly, when I asked The Community (that’s you! hi!) about the most memorable mothers in books, I got *a lot* of suggestions and whoo boy, virtually none of them are gonna win a Mother of the Year award. Turns out bad mothers are more interesting or at least more indelible! Moms, remember that on days when you think you’re not doing a great job (though, you are).
So this week, check out some memorable mothers in reading history according to you, the readers, and so that you get your newsletter’s money’s worth, I threw a few new and old suggestions in there as well. Hope you’ll find something new to love or hate or tell your therapist about.
What a weird, sly and interesting little book Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch is. It’s based loosely on the historical record of astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler’s mother, Katharina, who in 1618 is accused of being a witch amidst the tensions of the Thirty Years’ War and the Plague. I know, I know, how gripping - but it’s a funny, quirky, and thought-provoking take on moral panic and moral courage and on disinformation and half-truths. I liked it!
Who’s the most memorable mother in books?
“The ailing grandmother in Keith Gessen’s A Terrible Country” - Greg K, who suggested a book I’ve never even heard of and that is why the community is so good
“Mrs. Joe in Great Expectations” - Charlie T, heroically repping the classics
“Unfortunately Flowers in the Attic came to mind” - Eve R, who speaks for a generation of vaguely traumatized teens
“Glass Menagerie and ‘Night Mother. Also As I Lay Dying, Mommie Dearest, Shuggie Bain, Angela’s Ashes and Ma Joad” - Mary B, who suggested this week’s topic and also shamed me with her rattled-off list of spectacular literary references to seriously depressing mothers. But also, beware Shuggie Bain if you’re asking me.
Continuing with the oddball choices, I read Gold Diggers about a year ago and have never found a theme in which to include it because it’s such an unusual and original premise. Teenage Neil Narayan is struggling to live up to his parents’ and immigrant community’s expectations when he finds out that his neighbor and her mother have found a way to turn stolen gold into a magical elixir that transfers ambition and prowess to the person who drinks it. It’s about these teens, but for some reason the mothers really stuck with me - what they will do for, and to, their children to achieve success. Not perfect but very interesting and worth reading!
Who’s the most memorable mother in books? continued
“Where’d You Go, Bernadette!!!” - Abby B, whose three exclamation points might not be enough, this book is so good. Please read if you have not!
“Ooo, Beloved” - Priscilla L-K with an outstanding suggestion
“Love Walked In and Belong to Me by Marisa De Los Santos are what come to mind. IDK why” - Erika K who also just intro’d me to books that apparently everyone else in the world has read, where have I been?
and
get ready
are you ready
“Grendel’s mother in Beowulf. The mother of all literary mothers” - from Jane R, giving the most epic and spectacularly correct answer.
And some of my faves from the archive:
All the Young Men - about a young woman who cared and advocated for hundreds of young Southern men with AIDS. You don’t have to birth to mother.
Detransition, Baby - about whether, and how, to be a mother or a parent, from the lens of a trans woman, a detransitioned man, and a cis woman.
Crying in H Mart - the memoir of a Korean-American woman about the death of her mother. Brutal but beautiful love letter to a parent.
Little Fires Everywhere - the hype is real, such a great novel about mothers and daughters and secrets and biases and everything in between.
Chime in with your great - or terribly great - mothers in books!
And one last thing(s):
All the links go to Bookshop.org, which supports indie bookstores. And that’s fun. You can see/buy all past recos here.
I get like five cents if you buy a book through any of those links which will go to World Central Kitchen for the next few months because Jose Andres is feeding people in Ukraine and everywhere, and is basically like a Great Human.
My sweetie rode on a helicopter this week piloted by Lorenzo Lamas. This will be remarkable to only a few readers of this email but for those people, I feel it will be an unusually fascinating tidbit.