Reader's Place: May 1, 2024
To mother, or not to mother: The decision to become a mother is one of the most far-reaching decisions a woman can make, with enormous emotional, physical, financial and social consequences.
Normal women, by Ainslie Hogarth, 2023. Library copy
New mother Dani has a lot going on. She's worried that her seemingly healthy husband, Clark, might drop dead, leaving her and her baby, Lotte, destitute. Dani's not a gym-going, manicure-sporting, perfectly coiffed Normal Woman. And then Dani discovers The Temple. Ostensibly a yoga center, The Temple and its guardian, Renata, are committed to helping men reach their full potential. And if doing that sometimes requires sex work, so be it. Finally, Dani has found something she could be good at, even great at, something that could save Lotte from financial ruin if Clark ever dies.
Everyone but myself: A memoir, by Julie Chavez, 2024. Library copy
For Julie, an elementary school librarian and mother of two boys, there was no time for debilitating anxiety. Yet the terrifying aftershocks of her first panic attack left her grappling with questions about the causes of her mental health crisis and where it would lead next. Sure to resonate with mothers spread thin by the demands of modern family life, Everyone But Myself offers an intimate portrait of how one woman found her way back to herself.
Mika in real life: A novel, by Emmiko Jean, 2022. Library copy
Getting to know Penny, the daughter she placed for adoption sixteen years ago, thirty -five-year-old Mika Suzuki finds unexpected love with Penny's widowed father and finally has a chance to have the life and family she's always wanted, until her deceptions catch up with her.
Looking for Jane, by Heather Marshall, 2023. Library copy
In the 1970s a group of daring women operated an illegal underground abortion network in Toronto known only by its whispered code name: Jane. After discovering a shocking secret about her family, twenty-year-old Nancy Mitchell begins to question everything she has ever known. When she unexpectedly becomes pregnant, she feels like she has no one to turn to for help. Grappling with her decision, she locates "Jane" and finds a place of her own within the network's ranks, but she can never escape the lies that haunt her.
The school for good mothers: A novel, by Jessamine Chan, 2022. Library copy
Frida Liu, a 39-year-old Chinese-American single mother in Philadelphia, loses custody of her 18-month-old daughter, Harriet, after she leaves Harriet home alone for two hours on one very bad day. To regain custody, Frida must spend a year at a newly-created institution, where she practices parenting with bad mothers from all over the county. The mothers, whose transgressions range from benign to horrific, are under constant surveillance. If they don't pass all the school's tests, their parental rights will be terminated.
Invisible woman: A novel, by Katia Lief, 2024. Library copy
Joni Ackerman's decision to raise children, 25 years ago, came at a steep cost. She was then a pioneering filmmaker, one of the few women to break into the all-male Hollywood club of feature film directors. But she and her husband Paul had always wanted a family, and his ascending career at a premier television network provided a safety net. Joni's struggles with isolation in a new city, and old resentments about the sacrifices she made on her family's behalf start to boil over.
Compiled by Ina Rimpau