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A review by lkoster
The Mothers by Brit Bennett
5.0
This book is simply sublime and struck so many nerves with me. Although I cannot personally attest to how perfectly Brit Bennett may have captured Black church life, I did feel as though I was completely immersed in it, even to the point that I felt the shame of some of the characters.
I grew up in the church, your classic Midwestern Lutheran variety. As soon as I graduated high school and left my parents' home, I exhaled when I realized that I no longer had to put up with the hypocrisy of it—the gossip, the comparison of one's children to the children of others, the assessing of purity and commitment to belief, the constant judgment of wealth, grades, and promotions.
Brit Bennett deftly captures the cadence of the gossipy church Mothers, for whom the book is named, while also delicately introducing us to a cadre of complex characters—so complex, they feel like real people. Nadia is reeling from her mother's suicide. Luke is struggling with a life-altering injury and the stereotyping of a preacher's son. Aubrey is traumatized from sexual assault at the hands of her mother's boyfriend. About halfway through the novel, we think we understand how these three teenagers' lives intertwine. And then, Bennett throws us a curveball, soft at first but then its speed and the implications of it pick up with an unforgettable emotional force.
Read if: you want your novel to give you chills from its superb writing and carefully constructed plotline.
I grew up in the church, your classic Midwestern Lutheran variety. As soon as I graduated high school and left my parents' home, I exhaled when I realized that I no longer had to put up with the hypocrisy of it—the gossip, the comparison of one's children to the children of others, the assessing of purity and commitment to belief, the constant judgment of wealth, grades, and promotions.
Brit Bennett deftly captures the cadence of the gossipy church Mothers, for whom the book is named, while also delicately introducing us to a cadre of complex characters—so complex, they feel like real people. Nadia is reeling from her mother's suicide. Luke is struggling with a life-altering injury and the stereotyping of a preacher's son. Aubrey is traumatized from sexual assault at the hands of her mother's boyfriend. About halfway through the novel, we think we understand how these three teenagers' lives intertwine. And then, Bennett throws us a curveball, soft at first but then its speed and the implications of it pick up with an unforgettable emotional force.
Read if: you want your novel to give you chills from its superb writing and carefully constructed plotline.