The Mothers: A Novel

Four stars for beautiful writing that I breezed through. However I have to say my enjoyment of this book and appreciation for the topics were more of a 3. It was a heavy-handed abortion novel and I have to wonder if the author had ever been pregnant at the time of the writing as she got an important detail wrong-- one that always horrified me in the pro-life regulation setting: an early sonogram (at say 8 weeks, at least as recently as 2014 when I had my second child) is not conducted via a machine on the belly. There is a sonogram wand that is inserted in pregnant woman as otherwise they cannot pick up an image that early. Imagine, for example, requiring a young rape victim to have this type of sonogram before having an abortion. Sends chills down my spine.

As an older mom, with friends who more readily talk about their miscarriages, I've had to listen to them describe the less than ideal medical treatment they've sometimes endured because of the politics of abortion. So while I appreciate that life is complicated, and people might suffer in the exact ways described in this novel, it's still disappointing to read something that feels not-fully-informed because literature has consequences in the real world.

After reading The Vanishing Half, I had very high expectations for this book. While the story line kept me anticipating, it fell short of completing all of the door openers. I felt nostalgia in reading as I grew up in church and I know about church drama and secrets, along with the hypocrisy that unravels in the personal dichotomy of spiritual beliefs & life's reality. I would have liked for some closure.

Book 11: I loved this book more than anyone else in my group. I love this book more than anyone else I give it to. I don't know. I guess it's how the communication and insecurity are handled throughout the book. It resonated with something I was working on. The collective narrator was also really effing impactful for me. The ending? eh. It's also amazing that Bennet started this when she was 19. It took her years to write, but she was still so young when she finished it. I cannot imagine being so clear-minded in my twenties. (Things I wrote in my twenties made little sense to the people who read it.) She is just SO SMART. I am a big fan of hers now. The other readers in my group felt it was okay to pretty good. But I am the leader of the group, and I think we should all watch out for Brit Bennett because she is going to do amazing things.

This was a good back.! Read the Vansiging half as well. Britt Bennet has a lovely style of writing and some important themes she weaves in. A good read

The Mothers gave me alllllll of the feelings. Brit Bennett is a true talent. She writes characters that are memorable & unique, yet relatable. I especially loved the collective character that was the Mothers in this novel. So much wisdom given to not only Nadia, but myself, the reader. Lifelong fan of anything Bennett does right here!