The Mothers by Brit Bennett

All our chat about motherhood in relation to @torreyadora’s Detransition, Baby on our igtv yesterday (check it out on the grid) got me thinking about this book, The Mothers, by @britrbennett.

I read this one after I finished The Vanishing Half also by Bennett. The Mothers is her first book and it centres around the lives of three teenagers, Nadia, Luke and Aubrey — spanning over a decade — and their relationships with each other.

This book deals with all kinds of mothers but the title specifically denotes the churchgoing mothers who comment — and pass judgement — on the goings on of the community.

There are moments of real rawness in this impressive debut. I felt deeply for Nadia and the challenges she faced and found her relationship with Luke genuinely moving at times. Bennett is a writer of exceptional talent with both a penetrative understanding of people and a first-rate ability in her observations of their actions.

Also, can you believe I finished this several months ago and it’s only after seeing it in this photo that I realise the cover image is a woman’s silhouette #oops