NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “Bittersweet, sexy, morally fraught.” –The New York Times Book Review“Fantastic… a book that feels alive on the page.” –The Washington PostFrom the New York-Times bestselling author of The Vanishing Half, the beloved novel about young love and a big secret in a small community. Set within a contemporary black community in Southern California, Brit Bennett’s mesmerizing … small community.
Set within a contemporary black community in Southern California, Brit Bennett’s mesmerizing first novel is an emotionally perceptive story about community, love, and ambition. It begins with a secret.
“All good secrets have a taste before you tell them, and if we’d taken a moment to swish this one around our mouths, we might have noticed the sourness of an unripe secret, plucked too soon, stolen and passed around before its season.”
It is the last season of high school life for Nadia Turner, a rebellious, grief-stricken, seventeen-year-old beauty. Mourning her own mother’s recent suicide, she takes up with the local pastor’s son. Luke Sheppard is twenty-one, a former football star whose injury has reduced him to waiting tables at a diner. They are young; it’s not serious. But the pregnancy that results from this teen romance—and the subsequent cover-up—will have an impact that goes far beyond their youth. As Nadia hides her secret from everyone, including Aubrey, her God-fearing best friend, the years move quickly. Soon, Nadia, Luke, and Aubrey are full-fledged adults and still living in debt to the choices they made that one seaside summer, caught in a love triangle they must carefully maneuver, and dogged by the constant, nagging question: What if they had chosen differently? The possibilities of the road not taken are a relentless haunt.
In entrancing, lyrical prose, The Mothers asks whether a “what if” can be more powerful than an experience itself. If, as time passes, we must always live in servitude to the decisions of our younger selves, to the communities that have parented us, and to the decisions we make that shape our lives forever.
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Story starts in a small Black community in Southern Calif. A teenager who is grieving the death of her Mother, gets involves with a older young man and get pregnant. Secrets are keep from friends and family. We follow their journey and years later, the question is;
WHAT IF THEY HAD CHOSEN DIFFERENTLY?
Heartwarming
A readable, relatable coming of age story about mothers and daughters, female friendship, and community. I will definitely be looking for more books from this author.
My list of books-to-read is ridiculously long, and I often read, wanting to get to the end to get on to the next book. Not with THE MOTHERS. The writing is so lush and the story–as quiet as it is–gripped me and I didn’t want the book to end. When I finished, I shut the book and just sat there, not wanting to leave the world Brit Bennett created. This book wowed me.
This is a story of mothers.
There was the mother who would not protect her daughter and the mother who abandoned her daughter.
The daughters become mothers, one by mistake and the other through great endeavor.
And there are the other Mothers, the Greek Chorus women of Upper Room Church, the women who pray and get things done–and spread the rumors.
There is the First Lady, the pastor’s wife, mother of Luke, the handsome and thoughtless boy who grows to be a handsome and unreliable man.
It is the story of two girls and one boy, the tangled web of their silence and secrets.
It is the story of gender and power, the double-edged sword of ending an unwanted pregnancy, the way we categorize people as good or bad when good people do bad things, too.
These deeply flawed characters are each in their way heartbreaking as they break each other’s hearts.
The audiobook is excellent. I only wish I could have marked special sentences and passages!
I received a free audiobook from the publisher. My review is fair and unbiased.
½
“The book, I think, is about this central question of how girls grow into women when the female figures who are supposed to usher you into womanhood aren’t there. How girls come of age with that absence. And it’s about how communities are shaped by loss, this thing I keep writing about—how in moments of grief, community can be both a source of comfort and a source of oppression. My main character feels this responsibility to her community yet wants to escape it at the same time. And I was interested in this complexity, as well as the experience of being a young black woman in a community that expects a lot of her, in a world that expects very little.”
I found the above insight in an online interview with the author and I think it summarizes The Mothers theme beautifully. Overall, I liked The Mothers and especially enjoyed reading the relationship dynamics written into this story in terms of family, friendship, church body, and a conservative small town. I appreciated Brit Bennett bringing attention to gender double standards, role expectations, and negative self-fulfilling prophecies. This was an interesting read that was both entertaining and thought provoking. If you enjoy reading a variety of themes within the literary fiction and women’s fiction genres, check it out!
My favorite quote:
“Was that all it took, kneeling at the altar and asking for help? Or did you have to invite everyone in on your private sorrow to be saved?”
The debut novel from the author of THE VANISHING HALF, THE MOTHERS is a deeply moving story of friendship among three troubled high school students and the ways in which they change and evolve over the next fifteen years.
But while the story focuses on the teens, it’s interestingly narrated primarily by “The Mothers” — the experienced, senior women who play such a vital role in the local church. Self-appointed do-gooders, they monitor the lives of those in the congregation, often providing assistance, sometimes meddling, always passing judgement, and occasionally causing real mischief.
Now, meet the three teens:
NADIA – Adrift after the recent death of her mother and distant from her grieving father, Nadia has trouble fitting in. Smart AND beautiful, she aspires to go away to college but some of her behaviors put that goal at risk.
AUBREY – After a childhood filled with trauma and now living with a supportive and loving sister, Aubrey turns to the church community to find stability. Naive, eager to please and good natured, she earns the affection of all who meet her.
LUKE – As the minister’s son, Luke carries some unwanted responsibilities that feel awkward to a teenage boy who only wants to play football and explore his sexuality.
As the “church mothers” observe these three teens age into adulthood and speculate about the shifting relationships among the three— readers watch as all three make mistakes, struggle to forgive (themselves and each other), and explore the true meaning of love and friendship. A very insightful read into the nature of being human.
Found this book too slow and repetitive. Could not finish it.
Another wonderful book by Brit Bennett.
The Mothers by Brit Bennett is a haunting novel of the intricacies of love, friendship, and the consequences of choices. Nadia Turner, the central character, makes a series of choices, some good, some bad, all with long-lasting, powerful, life-changing consequences.
What I found brilliant in Bennett’s writing was her ability to make characters so fully real. All are so richly drawn that the reader has a sense of almost being inside each character’s mind and skin. Like real people, they all have flaws as well as goodness, but the presentation of this does not come across as superficial. Traits, positive and negative, are so seamlessly interwoven in each character that they start to feel as real as your next door neighbor, only you probably know Bennett’s characters much better.
I was also impressed by how the story showed the consequences of choices made by Nadia both as a teenager and as an adult following her throughout her life and powerfully impacting the lives of others even many years after the fact. To me it spoke as a metaphor for the way major life choices often have repercussions we never imagine at the time we make them.
Like her book The Vanishing Half, The Mothers is a deeply layered book. It is so rich with meaning that a discussion on it could last for days. Highly recommended!
So well written, well thought out, great character development and insight. Innovative, captivating.
I enjoyed this book because it is set in my native area- I loved reading about places I know well. I enjoyed this book because I felt it gave me a good understanding of how one’s choice can affect so many people for so long. I did feel sad when the book was over, and not really like there was a whole lot of hope for the characters. They were a bunch of broken people, who did not really heal, and it made me wish I could help, but gave me no hope. However, I am still thinking about this book, which must be a good thing.
The story takes a while to come together but is woven around the elder ladies of the church. Belonging to a church with some beloved elderly women, I liked that focus.
You will love the way she writes. Used words in such a great way that you appreciate what you are reading so much. The story is great and character development is done so well.
I’m not a plot-reviewer; you can read plenty about that in numerous places. I’m more interested in: the intensity, quality, and controversy of the book. Did it hold my attention from page 2 or did I have to slog through 2 chapters before it grabbed me. A huge indicator for me, when quickly (and therefore superficially) judging a book is how difficult was it to put the book down and go cook supper? How late did I rationalize staying awake to read into the night? Did it change my definition of “emergency ” if one of my kids fell out of a tree while I was supervising/absorbed in the book.
Parameters established: I’d give this book very high points in choosing it over cooking anything but a basic supper. I was awake, too often, until 3am+ reading and thinking about the characters in this novel. From a grammar, typo, etc standpoint it was superb. And….Dear DCFS: no children were in harm’s way while I devoured this exceptional novel.
The author of The Mothers is young, at least from an age perspective. She will go on to write better (or maybe just different subject matter) books as she lives and incorporates additional experiences. I’d give this novel 7.5/10. And I certainly recommend it to my friends (and now also to strangers). I will most definitely read her other book, The Vanishing Half.
Emotion driven. Excellent writing.
Going against the tide.
I am a middle aged white woman and I loved this book. Unlike anything I’ve ever read!
A whole new world. Sad and funny. Definitely worth finishing.
Great first novel. Look forward to more from her.
I read this book because the setting is one I’m familiar with (San Diego area). It’s decently written but not an especially interesting storyline.