Scan barcode
A review by daumari
The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan
4.0
In some ways, this book reminds me of [b:Never Let Me Go|6334|Never Let Me Go|Kazuo Ishiguro|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1353048590l/6334._SY75_.jpg|1499998] by Kazuo Ishiguro in that it's a near-future sci-fi that's stealthy about the fantastic elements in order to focus on failings in our current systems. I picked this up months after becoming a mother with some friends saying, "hmmm idk about reading that right now" but honestly? It makes the satire THAT much more biting as I'm inundated with Reels on how to be a good parent/you're doing just fine as a parent/but hey maybe here's something your baby should be doing now and if not consider whether you're a Bad Mother? Or the inciting incident, where Frida has a Very Bad Day and stays a little too long at the office- wanting a moment to yourself is so incredibly relatable.
It has additional resonance for me as an American Born Chinese mother of a biracial child. When we see glimpses of Frida's ex and his new partner raising Harriet while Frida's parents aren't kept as in the loop, I'm reminded of the blindspots transracial parents can have with children of color.
At about the 75% mark, I realized there's no way for there to be a truly happy ending here without it being a substantially different story, and the ending here is bittersweet. It's immensely frustrating because you root for Frida the whole time, and she's trying her best! But because she doesn't conform to the idealized version of motherhood, she's deemed Bad.
I did wonder if [plot speculation]
I'm glad I read it, but I don't think I'll be picking this one up for a reread unless it comes up for book club.
It has additional resonance for me as an American Born Chinese mother of a biracial child. When we see glimpses of Frida's ex and his new partner raising Harriet while Frida's parents aren't kept as in the loop, I'm reminded of the blindspots transracial parents can have with children of color.
At about the 75% mark, I realized there's no way for there to be a truly happy ending here without it being a substantially different story, and the ending here is bittersweet. It's immensely frustrating because you root for Frida the whole time, and she's trying her best! But because she doesn't conform to the idealized version of motherhood, she's deemed Bad.
I did wonder if [plot speculation]
Spoiler
the dolls were going to uprise at some point, or if Frida was going to have to choose between Emanuelle and Harriet (which she sort of did, with the videos and the phone access). There's still something very weird with the dolls and I can't help but wonder if the school was also training the doll AI to learn, but we didn't get into that much because it wasn't the focal point.I'm glad I read it, but I don't think I'll be picking this one up for a reread unless it comes up for book club.