A review by cdubiel
A Good Mother by Lara Bazelon

5.0

I loved this book. So excited to see more complex legal thrillers hitting the market. It is one of my favorite genres. I especially enjoyed this one because it had so many twists, and there are so many moral gray areas with each of the main characters. Abby Rosenberg is the protagonist and a lawyer who is about to give birth at the start of the book. She is defending Luz Rivera Hollis, a nineteen-year-old who killed her husband on an army base in Germany. The main question is whether Luz did this to defend herself and her child from her husband's abuse, or if the killing was premeditated and thus murder. Abby's partner is not very happy with her for going back to work so early to continue on Luz's case, and the title could refer to either Abby or Luz, or both. What defines a good mother - and what do women sacrifice by striving to fall into that category? This book is highly discussable and compulsively readable - I seriously cannot wait until more of my coworkers can read it so I can share it with them.