The Mothers: A Novel

Brit Bennett

Oct 2016 · Sold by Penguin

About this eBook

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 Post

From 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 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.

Ratings and reviews

As usual, she keeps me up all night having an inability to put the book down once I’ve become immersed and so engaged into the authentic complex and harrowing life events she has such a gift of writing into reality and her readers are utterly shattered and usually extremely emotional about the events and circumstances that humanity has been enduring since those such as the author have had the talent to write about the past and history and the emotional trauma that’s brought others to ruin

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.

The characters were well-written. They felt real like people I could have known. The exploration of loss and loneliness was masterful. I just didn't care for the plot. It was borderline Lifetime movie-ish. Like I know characters are supposed to be flawed but there is a fine line between flawed and dumb and between flawed and ridiculous. And the reactions of the younger characters weren't at all realistic to me. Still worth the read though.

About the author

Born and raised in Southern California, Brit Bennett graduated from Stanford University and later earned her MFA in fiction at the University of Michigan, where she won a Hopwood Award in Graduate Short Fiction as well as the 2014 Hurston/Wright Award for College Writers. Her work is featured in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The Paris Review, and Jezebel. She is one of the National Book Foundation's 2016 5 Under 35 honorees.