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A review by bangkok67
The Mothers by Brit Bennett
5.0
When my adult daughter was very small, I remember a phenomenon called “mother bashing.” Mothers were blamed for however the child grew up and for whatever the child did wrong. It had to be the mother’s fault. Today, we have “helicopter parents” where both mothers and fathers are blamed for anything and everything children get up to, or do not get up to, in that generation of kids we call millennials. The Mothers covers all kinds of mothers, those who are absent, those who just didn’t measure up, and those who control and manipulate. We also have mothers who don’t want to be mothers or can’t be mothers. It is about every possible card women get played in the course of a lifetime.
Nadia is the seventeen year old we first meet. She is an excellent student who believes her mission in life is to achieve the highest level of education possible. Aubrey who becomes her friend is looking for family to love and finds it with her sister. Nadia and Aubrey meet at school but their paths cross at the central setting of the novel, Upper Room, the church where both girls volunteer and worship.
Nadia and Aubrey have very different personalities but they form a bond that will last a lifetime. The bond will be tested and perhaps broken in places but they love each other and find comfort in their friendship. Luke is the guy, the cute football player everyone looks up to in high school. He is son of the pastor, Rev. Sheppard (nice pun) at Upper Room. Mrs. Sheppard is the boss of all things in the church community. She runs the church like a ship captain and nothing happens without her say so and under her direction.
The final group of characters in the novel are “the mothers,” a Greek Chorus for all that goes on in these character’s lives. They are the older women of the church, the women who have seen everything in life and keep their ears to the ground, not shy about gossip or putting together what they think is true when it comes to the all the parishioners of Upper Room.
Brit Bennet has crafted a unique coming of age story about young women that is intense and heart wrenching at its core. It is a timeless story told in today’s world where we are so sickened by the deaths of young black men in the streets of every city. This story is about young black women who are not in the newspapers. We hope they are being cared for in loving families but we can’t be sure. Brit Bennet tells us with clarity that all is not what it seems. We need to care for all of them, the boys and the girls. They are our future and their hidden scars need help to heal.
ARC courtesy NetGalley and Riverhead Books (pub 10/11).
Nadia is the seventeen year old we first meet. She is an excellent student who believes her mission in life is to achieve the highest level of education possible. Aubrey who becomes her friend is looking for family to love and finds it with her sister. Nadia and Aubrey meet at school but their paths cross at the central setting of the novel, Upper Room, the church where both girls volunteer and worship.
Nadia and Aubrey have very different personalities but they form a bond that will last a lifetime. The bond will be tested and perhaps broken in places but they love each other and find comfort in their friendship. Luke is the guy, the cute football player everyone looks up to in high school. He is son of the pastor, Rev. Sheppard (nice pun) at Upper Room. Mrs. Sheppard is the boss of all things in the church community. She runs the church like a ship captain and nothing happens without her say so and under her direction.
The final group of characters in the novel are “the mothers,” a Greek Chorus for all that goes on in these character’s lives. They are the older women of the church, the women who have seen everything in life and keep their ears to the ground, not shy about gossip or putting together what they think is true when it comes to the all the parishioners of Upper Room.
Brit Bennet has crafted a unique coming of age story about young women that is intense and heart wrenching at its core. It is a timeless story told in today’s world where we are so sickened by the deaths of young black men in the streets of every city. This story is about young black women who are not in the newspapers. We hope they are being cared for in loving families but we can’t be sure. Brit Bennet tells us with clarity that all is not what it seems. We need to care for all of them, the boys and the girls. They are our future and their hidden scars need help to heal.
ARC courtesy NetGalley and Riverhead Books (pub 10/11).