This is the understatement of a lifetime, but mothering is hard. From someone who has four-legged fur children, I acknowledge I have a surface level understanding of what it takes to not only keep yourself alive and presentable but also other small humans who rely on you completely for the same.
I’ve watched my friends navigate new motherhood, tantrums, illness, second and third children, and marveled at their capacity for inner (and outer. Have you seen all the things in diaper bags these days?!) strength. I love their children, but I also love not being responsible for them 24/7.
So in this month where we reserve one day out of 365 to celebrate women who have produced another human being from their own bodies, here are a few books about all kinds of mothers. And also maybe think about saying thank you to yours or a nurturing female in your life more often.
Margo’s Got Money Trouble by Rufi Thorpe
As the child of a Hooters waitress and an ex-pro wrestler, Margo Millet's always known she'd have to make it on her own. So she enrolls at her local junior college, even though she can't imagine how she'll ever make a living. She's still figuring things out and never planned to have an affair with her English professor—and while the affair is brief, it isn't brief enough to keep her from getting pregnant. Despite everyone's advice, she decides to keep the baby, mostly out of naiveté and a yearning for something bigger.
Now, at twenty, Margo is alone with an infant, unemployed, and on the verge of eviction. She needs a cash infusion—fast. When her estranged father, Jinx, shows up on her doorstep and asks to move in with her, she agrees in exchange for help with childcare. Then Margo begins to form a plan: she'll start an OnlyFans as an experiment, and soon finds herself adapting some of Jinx's advice from the world of wrestling. Like how to craft a compelling character and make your audience fall in love with you. Before she knows it, she's turned it into a runaway success. Could this be the answer to all of Margo's problems, or does internet fame come with too high a price?
How to Party with an Infant by Kaui Hart Hemmings
Mele Bart is a single mother in San Francisco navigating the world of potty-training specialists, elite preschools, playdate etiquette, and nanny envy. To top it all off, she is contemplating attending the wedding of the father of her child, the man who left her when she told him she was pregnant. After multiple failed attempts at seeming like another perfect privileged mother, Mele finds refuge among the other misfit parents in her daughter’s playgroup—Annie, Barrett, Georgia, and Henry. With their encouragement, she decides to revisit her dream of becoming an author and enters a cookbook-writing contest sponsored by the San Francisco Mother’s Club.
Interspersing recipes inspired by her own life with recipes inspired by the other parents in her group, all of whom are dealing with feelings of inadequacy, Mele devises a cookbook that is equal parts introspection and sharp observation. Mele’s candor, her friends’ stories, and some hilariously cringe-worthy interjections from the Mother’s Club online message board come together in a layered narrative that is both ruthless and empathetic, satirical and sincere.
That Kind of Mother by Rumaan Alam
New mother and accomplished young poet Rebecca Stone, who is white, gives birth to Jacob in the 1980s. Married to Christopher, a British diplomat stationed in Washington, DC, she has a life rich with government intrigue and more than a little Princess Diana-watching. When Rebecca bonds with Priscilla Johnson, her breastfeeding coach, who is black, and brings her into the home for more help, the household is thrown into a shocking crisis.When Priscilla dies unexpectedly in childbirth, Rebecca instinctively moves to adopt her newborn son, a decision that will change Rebecca's life, her family, and her view of the world.
Family Family by Laurie Frankel
India Allwood has been a talented, determined actress from a young age. She works her way from stage plays in college to Broadway and finally to a TV role in Hollywood. After starring in a melodramatic movie about adoption, India tells a reporter that she believes the film misrepresents adoption; as an adoptive mother herself, India knows firsthand that not every such story is tragic. The media feedback to India's interview is ruthless, and soon secrets from her past come to light. Suddenly her career is at risk, and India must decide if she wants to save face or continue defending her choices.
The Mothers by Brit Bennett
The story is narrated in part by the eponymous mothers , a chorus of elder church women who—having lived through it all—demonstrate no compunction in judging and discussing the choices made by their fellow parishioners of the Upper Room Chapel. At 17, Nadia Turner’s life is topsy-turvy. Six months after learning of her mother ’s suicide, Nadia winds up pregnant and decides to abort the baby. The unborn baby’s father, Luke—a preacher’s son—gives Nadia the money to terminate but falls back on his promise to pick her up at the clinic after her appointment, causing a fissure in their relationship.
Nadia’s secret decision haunts her for decades—through college in Michigan, law school, and an extended trip back home to care for her ailing father. Meanwhile, the slow-to-build trust between Luke and Aubrey, Nadia’s bible-thumping childhood best friend, who knows nothing of Nadia’s past, is threatened when Nadia and Luke reunite and rip open old wounds after Luke and Aubrey’s wedding.
For more books, check out this list from Tulsa City-County Library.
