Helpful Score: 1
When I have novels that I know will be powerful reading experiences, I often delay reading them, partly because anticipation is part of my enjoyment and also because I'll never again have the experience of reading the book for the first time; this was my experience with The Mothers. When it was published in 2016, it received countless praise, and I was pleased that the reading experience lived up to my expectations.
This contemporary literary novel centers around the members of the Upper Room, a small Black church in Southern California: Pastor and First Lady Shepherd and their son Luke; active members Mr. and Mrs. Turner and their daughter Nadia; Aubrey, a teen looking for a place to belong; and the Mothers, a group of aging female members who meet to pray for (and pass judgment on) the church members. I had often heard the plot of this novel described by its first event - 17-year-old Nadia gets pregnant by 22-year-old Luke - but it's about so much more. I appreciated discovering additional plot points on my own so I won't spoil them here.
I don't highlight or jot down quotes when reading fiction, but I wish I had when reading The Mothers because the author often used powerful yet short phrases and sentences to perfectly capture emotions and events, often the 'less than pretty and positive' aspects of life. This story is full of triggers (abortion, suicide, alcoholism, infidelity) but if you can handle them, it also includes an exploration about many aspects of motherhood and belonging, which is intriguing from a 25-year-old first-time novelist.
Brit Bennett's second novel, The Vanishing Half, was released on June 2, and I'm eager to read the copy I purchased from a Black-owned bookstore earlier this month. I promised myself I won't let it linger on my TBR shelves as long as The Mothers did.
This contemporary literary novel centers around the members of the Upper Room, a small Black church in Southern California: Pastor and First Lady Shepherd and their son Luke; active members Mr. and Mrs. Turner and their daughter Nadia; Aubrey, a teen looking for a place to belong; and the Mothers, a group of aging female members who meet to pray for (and pass judgment on) the church members. I had often heard the plot of this novel described by its first event - 17-year-old Nadia gets pregnant by 22-year-old Luke - but it's about so much more. I appreciated discovering additional plot points on my own so I won't spoil them here.
I don't highlight or jot down quotes when reading fiction, but I wish I had when reading The Mothers because the author often used powerful yet short phrases and sentences to perfectly capture emotions and events, often the 'less than pretty and positive' aspects of life. This story is full of triggers (abortion, suicide, alcoholism, infidelity) but if you can handle them, it also includes an exploration about many aspects of motherhood and belonging, which is intriguing from a 25-year-old first-time novelist.
Brit Bennett's second novel, The Vanishing Half, was released on June 2, and I'm eager to read the copy I purchased from a Black-owned bookstore earlier this month. I promised myself I won't let it linger on my TBR shelves as long as The Mothers did.
