Review: The Mothers

5 stars. The Mothers is wonderful and painful, much like the experience of being female. It questions and explores so much. It’s about expectations and fear and assumption and choices and mistakes and the lies we tell each other and the lies we tell ourselves. It reflects the impossible battles we face every day as the hugely imperfect individuals we all are.

I was looking for something exactly like this - something introspective and harrowing and rich with detail. It’s a somewhat short but packed story about a young girl, Nadia, who faces an unplanned pregnancy at seventeen. She (not a spoiler) has an abortion and the book examines its impact on her identity as well as those of the people around her. 

The narrative is a winding road that connects Nadia with her distant father, her dead mother, her damaged best friend, her lover, and her community. I felt so deeply for each character and the decisions they faced. I particularly love the way the book posits how occasionally connection cannot be defined - it just is. Sometimes it's wonderful and stimulating and warm, sometimes it's cold and ugly and painful, and sometimes - often, maybe - it's both. 

The writing itself is lovely, practically flawless. The setting feels timeless (I was almost jarred by mentions of cell phones and Barrack Obama). The characters are distinct and complicated and therefore realistic, to me. Nadia makes imperfect choices and I could relate to every. single. one. It's not a fun read, but I wasn't looking for one. I wanted to sink into scalding water for a moment and The Mothers delivered.

I know that my perspective is unneeded here - probably unwanted - but more books like this need to be published.

The Mothers on: Amazon | Goodreads