Mothers and the motherly figures in our lives are often our unsung heroes. They set the bar extraordinarily high as they patch up skinned knees, balance seemingly impossible schedules and heal invisible wounds with their hugs. While they experience many jubilant moments raising their children, motherhood also brings impossible expectations and the pressure to be “perfect” parents.
In honor of Mother’s Day and the women who raise us, we have rounded up six books about the many joys and heartbreaks of parenthood and what it means to be a mother.
“Chouette” by Claire Oshetsky
Tiny is pregnant. Her husband is delighted. However, when Chouette is born, she’s a small, broken-winged owl-baby, the result of Tiny’s affair with a female owl. Left on her own to care for a child that’s more predatory bird than baby, Tiny vows to raise Chouette to be her authentic self. When she discovers her husband is on an obsessive and increasingly dangerous quest to find a cure for their daughter, Tiny must decide whether Chouette should be raised to fit in or to be herself — and learn what it truly means to be a mother.
“That Kind of Mother” by Rumaan Alam
Like many first-time mothers, Rebecca Stone finds herself both deeply in love with her newborn son and deeply overwhelmed. As she struggles to juggle the demands of motherhood, Rebecca reaches out to Priscilla, the only one to offer help at the hospital, and asks her to be her son’s nanny. Rebecca is white, and Priscilla is black, and through their relationship, Rebecca finds herself confronting, for the first time, the blind spots of her own privilege. When Priscilla dies unexpectedly in childbirth, Rebecca steps forward to adopt her baby. As she soon learns, navigating motherhood for her is a matter of learning how to raise two children whom she loves with equal ferocity, but whom the world is determined to treat differently.
“The School for Good Mothers” by Jessamine Chan
Frida Liu is struggling. Only with her daughter Harriet does Frida finally feel she’s attained the perfection expected of her. Until Frida has a horrible day, and the state turns its eyes on her. Now, a host of government officials will determine if Frida is a candidate for a Big Brother-like institution that measures the success or failure of a mother’s devotion. Faced with the possibility of losing Harriet, Frida must prove she can live up to the standards set for mothers — that she can learn to be good.
“Untamed” by Glennon Doyle
“Untamed” is the story of how one woman learned that a responsible mother is not one who slowly dies for her children but one who shows them how to fully live. It is the story of how each of us can begin to trust ourselves enough to set boundaries, make peace with our bodies, honor our anger and heartbreak, and unleash our truest, wildest instincts so we become women who can finally look at ourselves and say: There She Is.
“The Perfect Mother” by Aimee Molloy
They call themselves the May Mothers — a collection of new moms who seek refuge from the isolation of new motherhood; sharing the fears, joys and anxieties of their new child-centered lives. But one summer night, something goes terrifyingly wrong: one of the babies is abducted from his crib. Winnie, a single mom, was reluctant to leave 6-week-old Midas with a babysitter and now Midas is missing. As the police bungle the investigation and the media begin to scrutinize the mothers in the days that follow, damaging secrets are exposed, marriages are tested, and friendships are formed and fractured.
“The Mothers” by Brit Bennett
Mourning her own mother’s recent suicide, high schooler Nadia Turner takes up with the local pastor’s son, Luke. 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 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.
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Ashlee Conour is the marketing specialist at Naperville Public Library.