Book Review: The Mothers by Brit Bennett

A book called “The Mothers” is automatically a book that gets my attention. As I age and especially as I make my journey through the various stages of life, I recognize that the one topic that strikes the biggest cord in my heart is the topic of motherhood.

I need to know more about how other women are handling motherhood. Not to compare myself necessarily, but to learn from them and to get reassurance that no matter what, each mother is living her own, unique experience. There are rights and wrongs, but there are never definite answers. There were many moments in this book that gave me peace of mind, one of them being that even after a wrong is done, a life can be made whole again. 

I am also obsessed with understanding how I came to be the type of mother I am. Did the situations that my own mother and grandmothers faced shape how I mother my children? 

The answer is always yes.

That’s why The Mothers by Brit Bennet grabbed my attention. Not only does it have this amazing cover that caught my eye, and the fact that The Book of the Month Club chose it for one of its October picks, it’s also written by a first time author. I love that because there must be a reason behind all of that buzz.

What happens when a rebellious seventeen-year-old young woman sets her eyes on the son of a pastor, a star football player and the apple of the church community’s eye?

Nadia Tucker and Luke Sheppard think they are in love. But much more than young love is needed to save them from their own demons. Luke struggles to find identity after an injury ends his sports career. Nadia is a broken soul whose life is set on a completely different track because of her mother’s suicide. The one thing they each have is hope. Hope for love, for a better future.

This is a story about how huge decisions and actions affect the lives of not just the immediate characters, but how it also moves the hearts of others- the best friends, the church elders, the community. Every little move can change the course.  

There are major life decisions, some devastating, some hopeful- that are made inside this story that will have you asking yourself “What if” and “What would I do?” and I think that’s the work of remarkable writing. I am always searching for the stories that make me walk in another’s shoes because that’s how I start to understand and reflect on how similar situations in my own life have changed me. 

I give this book a 5 star review and encourage everyone to read it!