Six Books to Read for Mother’s Day

12 Mar

Since it’s Mother’s Day, or Mothering Sunday, this weekend (in the UK) I thought I’d chat about some books that feature mothers. This will be my first Mother’s Day without my own mum, and it’s certainly a strange feeling to know that I won’t be able to give her a card and flowers or a gift this year. Reading books about mothers isn’t as upsetting to me as I thought it would be, though. It’s actually quite comforting, and here are some of the ones I’ve enjoyed recently. These mothers aren’t all perfect, but who is? I hope you can find something here that appeals to you, too.

Related Reading: Book Dads!

Stories for Mothers & Daughters - Various Authors (British Library Women Writers)

I’m a big fan of the British Library Women Writers collection. They’ve published some amazing books by women writers who have largely been forgotten over recent years, so it’s wonderful that they’ve brought them back in these new editions, and with such lovely and distinctive covers. I’ve got several sitting on my bookshelves now, and this is one of them.

Glorious chaos descends when a troop of daughters pay their mother a weekend visit; a mother buys her daughter a pet to teach her piety; and a daughter deposits unwanted suitors with her charmingly garrulous mother. Through the ages, teenage daughters perpetually rebel against maternal spectres of tradition, fallible mothers worry over the responsibility of imparting wisdom, and there are moments when time wears thin, and mothers slip back into being daughters. These stories often sketch the fault lines of this bond: a debutante daughter feels herself growing invisible, a sanatorium patient begins to question if her mother really wants her to get better, and a mother silently haunts her house when her children are packed off for the holidays. From telling a fairy-tale to attending a funeral, this collection is a testament to the love, in all its complexities and aches, that passes through generations of women.

This anthology brings together an eclectic mix of female masters of the short-story format. Many of these stories first appeared in periodicals and printed collections and are now presented together for the first time as part of the Women Writers series. Side by side, these mothers and daughters navigate the changes of a turbulent twentieth century for women’s rights and societal attitudes to female behaviour. This collection brings together the talents of Richmal Crompton, Sylvia Townsend Warner, Jeanette Winterson, Jamaica Kincaid, A.S. Byatt, Inez Holden, Winifred Holtby, Janet Frame, E.M. Delafield, and Tillie Olsen to embrace the mother-daughter bond in all its lovely, imperfect forms.

The full list of authors: Richmal Crompton, Sylvia Townsend Warner, Inez Holden, Jeanette Winterson, Maude Egerton King, Janet Frame, Winifred Holtby, E.M. Delafield, Frances Gray Patton, Maeve Brennan, A.S. Byatt, Amy Bloom, Phyllis Bottome, Tillie Olsen, Mary Arden, and Jamaica Kincaid.

Bridget Jones’s Baby by Helen Fielding

For something very lighthearted and fun, you can’t go wrong with good old Bridget! And just as you think she’s nicely settled with that lovely Mr Darcy, she goes and gets herself all tangled up in trouble when she finds out that she’s expecting a baby. And unfortunately, she’s not sure if Mark Darcy or that incorrigible Daniel Cleaver is the father…

8.45 P.M. Realise there have been so many times in my life when have fantasised about going to a scan with Mark or Daniel: just not both at the same time.

Before motherhood, before marriage, BRIDGET JONES, with biological clock ticking very, very loudly, finds herself unexpectedly pregnant at the eleventh hour.

Her joyful pregnancy is dominated, however, by a crucial but terribly awkward question – who is the father? Mark Darcy: honourable, decent, notable human rights lawyer? Or Daniel Cleaver: charming, witty, notable fuckwit?

I love Bridget Jones and even though I’ll admit that when they first announced Texan actress Renee Zellwegger was going to play her in the films I was horrified, I can’t see Bridget as anyone else now! In the film of this book, a new man is the possible father of Bridget’s baby, but in the book it’s the awful, funny, terrible, charming Daniel who’s the candidate. So who is the father of Bridget Jones’s baby? And how is the slightly chaotic and perpetually unprepared Bridget going to cope with impending motherhood?

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

And from one Mr Darcy to another - here’s the original (and best) version in this superb classic novel that never loses its brilliance.

'No sooner had he made it clear to himself and his friends that she had hardly a good feature in her face, than he began to find it was rendered uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her dark eyes ...'

When Elizabeth Bennet first meets eligible bachelor Fitzwilliam Darcy, she thinks him arrogant and conceited; he is indifferent to her good looks and lively mind. When she later discovers that Darcy has involved himself in the troubled relationship between his friend Bingley and her beloved sister Jane, she is determined to dislike him more than ever. In the sparkling comedy of manners that follows, Jane Austen shows the folly of judging by first impressions and superbly evokes the friendships, gossip and snobberies of provincial middle-class life.

Now, hear me out! I know that Mrs Bennet has a terrible reputation and is often viewed as a very silly, fussy, overbearing mother, and there can be no doubt that she makes some dubious decisions - like sending Jane off to Netherfield Park, knowing the weather is going to be dreadful, in the hopes that her daughter will get ill and have to stay in the care of the Bingleys, or insisting that Lizzie accepts Mr Collins’ marriage proposal - but even so, I do think she gets a raw deal sometimes. Given the precarious position she and her daughters will be in should something happen to Mr Bennet (who, by the way, does very little to secure his daughters’ futures or his wife’s security) of course she’s anxious that they all marry well. What mother wouldn’t be? So yes, I do have some sympathy for Mrs Bennet. Plus, she’s a very funny character! And any excuse to reread Pride and Prejudice is fine by me.

Mamma by Diana Tutton (British Library Women Writers)

Another book from the excellent British Library Women’s Writers collection.

‘Joanna sat with her cheek against her [Libby’s] shining hair. She had hardly thought of Steven since he slammed his way out of the house, but now, welling up within her and pouring out over her love for Libby, came an intolerable flood of envy.’
Widowed at 21 with a young baby, Joanna Malling finds her solitary existence upended twenty years later when her daughter Libby moves in with her new husband. At 35, Steven is closer in age to Joanna than Libby. What begins as an awkward relationship between mother and son-in-law evolves into something more intimate and Joanna must wrestle with re-awakened emotions and the conflict between desire and loyalty.

I read this book only recently and thoroughly enjoyed it. Joanna and Libby are very close - not surprising since Joanna’s husband died when she was only twenty-one, leaving her with a young baby to bring up alone. She’s proud of her daughter and wants her to have a wonderful life. But when Libby brings fiancé Steven home to meet her mother, Joanna doesn’t think much to him at first. Nor is she ecstatic that Libby has decided that Steven should call Joanna, ‘Mamma’. Joanna’s worried that he is too old and stuffy for her daughter. At thirty-five he’s closer to her own age than to her daughter’s. The wedding, however, goes ahead, and after some awkward evenings at home, Joanna and Steve unexpectedly bond over poetry. She begins to see her son-in-law through fresh eyes, and it seems to her that he is behaving differently towards her. Soon her secret thoughts about Steve are making life very difficult indeed… A really interesting story told with compassion, threaded with humour, and ending on an uplifting and hopeful note. It’s also a great commentary on upper middle class life in the 1950s.

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

I read this book for the first time just last year, even though I was familiar with the story through a television adaptation I watched as a child. The book, however, was even better!

When Anne, a spirited, bright-eyed, red-headed orphan, arrives at Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert’s home, the peaceful landscape of Prince Edward Island in Canada will never be the same again. The two elderly siblings expected a boy to help with their farm, but when Anne appears on their doorstep like a delightful surprise, they realize fate has a different plan for them.

After a childhood spent in strangers' homes and orphanages, Anne is grateful to have a home with people who love her ‒ the first real home she’s ever known. From the moment she steps foot on the vast, green property, her vivid imagination and dreamy nature brighten up Green Gables with her fantastical tales about the lake of shining waters, the White Way of Delight, and the blossoming cherry trees.

Soon, it becomes impossible for the people of Prince Edward Island to recall life before this bright little girl walked into their small community and right into their hearts. But as Anne grows older, she must face the complexities of adolescence with all its friendships, rivalries, and complicated feelings. Can she make it without losing the spark in her heart?

Marilla Cuthbert isn’t Anne’s natural mother - and some might say she isn’t a natural mother at all. She’d probably agree! But something magical happens to Marilla when the young orphan arrives at Green Gables. This sensible, practical, no-nonsense woman, who initially decides to send the child back to the orphanage because she’s not a boy, begins to soften and care and fall hopelessly in love with the irrepressible Anne. You see Marilla becoming a mother before your eyes, and it’s lovely to read this blossoming relationship in the pages of what is a thoroughly marvellous book.

Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

I’ve raved about this book in a previous post so I won’t repeat myself. I’ll just say that it’s the most emotional, heartrending book about motherhood I’ve ever read and it truly is beautiful!

A LOVE THAT DRAWS THEM TOGETHER. A LOSS THAT THREATENS TO TEAR THEM APART.
The untold love story that inspired Shakespeare's greatest masterpiece.
On a summer's day in 1596, a young girl in Stratford-upon-Avon takes to her bed with a sudden fever. Her twin brother, Hamnet, searches everywhere for help. Why is nobody at home?
Their mother, Agnes, is over a mile away, in the garden where she grows medicinal herbs. Their father is working in London.
Neither parent knows that Hamnet will not survive the week.
Hamnet tells the powerful story of Agnes and Will, and of the son whose life has been all but forgotten, but who inspired one of the greatest plays ever written.

I still get tears in my eyes when I think about this story. It is sad, there’s no doubt about it. But it’s also full of love and family and hope, and sometimes the saddest stories can fill you with joy. This is one of those books.

Bonus ~ Books I’ve written that particularly feature mothers

Many of my book heroines are mothers - some better than others. I’ve chosen these because the issue of motherhood is something that features strongly in the story. Other options include Baxter’s Christmas Wish, Fresh Starts at Folly Farm, Take Me Home to Kelsea Sands, Christmas Spirits at Honeywell House, and Second Chances in Tuppenny Bridge.

Summer at the Country Practice

The sun is shining on Bramblewick, the little village on the North York Moors.

At Bramblewick Primary School the teachers are preparing for their much-needed break, and Izzy and Ash are busy making wedding plans.But for their friend and colleague, Jackson Wade, the long summer holiday isn't so welcome. He's dreading being alone and is already wondering what he's going to do with himself until school starts again.

For Dr Abbie Sawdon, the end of term brings a different problem. She's a single mum with a busy job and three young children to care for. Not only that but she's just moved into The Gables, a large, rather neglected house on the edge of the village. Her teenage daughter hates it, Abbie's got no time to work on it, and she's beginning to wonder if moving to Bramblewick was such a good idea after all.

After mutual friends set Abbie and Jackson up on a blind date, both are adamant that the experience will never be repeated. It's painfully obvious that they have nothing in common, and Abbie is insulted by Jackson's less-than-tactful comments regarding her children and home.

But Jackson might just be the answer to Abbie's problems, and when things reach crisis point at The Gables, she has no choice but to accept his offer of help.

A long and difficult summer lies ahead of them as they negotiate house renovations, boisterous children, lively dogs and a moody teenager. But it's not all bad, as a christening, an engagement party and a trip to the seaside bring some welcome relief from work.

And as the weeks go by, Jackson and Abbie begin to realise it's not just the house that's in need of tender loving care.

Related Reading: Behind the Scenes at Bramblewick

The Whole of the Moon

Every moment is a chance to start again…
When Harry Jarvis arrives in Kearton Bay on the evening of the Samhain ceremony at The Hare and Moon Inn, his sole intention is to rebuild his relationship with daughter Amy and start afresh. But Amy isn't the little girl he left behind, and she's not going to let him off the hook that easily.
With two ex-wives to placate, a failing career, a tumbledown property to renovate, and a terrible reputation to live down, Harry's about to find that making a fresh start in Kearton Bay won't be as easy as he'd hoped.
Rhiannon Bone understands what it feels like to be estranged from a child, since her son left Kearton Bay nearly four years ago, leaving their relationship in tatters. When he returns for a special event, she hopes they can put the past behind them, but is Derry ready to forgive and forget?
For both Rhiannon and Harry, the mistakes they made in the past are still making ripples in the present. But as secrets are revealed and life-changing decisions are made, they begin to realise that it's not just other people's forgiveness they need.
If they're to have any sort of future, they must first forgive themselves...

A Kiss from a Rose

One kiss can change your life...
If there's one thing Rose MacLean has learned in life it's that if anything can go wrong it will.
She has a new career - in partnership with her best friend, Eliza - so it's surely just a matter of time before things start to go awry. With money tight, space in her tiny flat at a premium, and her eldest daughter, Fuchsia, behaving even more strangely than usual, maybe that's all the bad luck she's going to get?
But when her hard-to-please mother becomes the unexpected victim of a crime, Rose has no choice but to take her into her already cramped home, despite their difficult relationship. Reduced to sleeping on the sofa, dealing with her mother's barbed comments, and worrying endlessly about her teenage daughters, Rose is desperately in need of something good to happen.
Flynn Pennington-Rhys is the quiet man of Kearton Bay. He lives alone in a house that's far too big and way too tidy, and works as a GP in the village. Thoughtful, reliable, but a bit of a loner, Flynn is the last person Rose expected to fall for.
But odd things can happen at a wedding, and a single kiss sets them on a path that neither could have predicted.
But Flynn has his own issues to deal with, and when events take an unexpected turn, it seems Rose may not be able to rely on him after all.
Will the quiet man come through for her? Will her daughters ever sort themselves out?

And will Rose ever get her bedroom back from her mother, or is she destined to spend the rest of her life on the sofa?

I hope you find something here that you’d like to read, and if you do I hope you enjoy it! Happy Mother’s Day to all the mums, stepmums, and act-like-mums out there. I hope you have a wonderful day.

Mother's DayMothering SundayMotherhoodBritish Library Women WritersDiana TuttonMammaHelen FieldingBridget Jones's BabyJane AustenPride and PrejudiceLM MontgomeryAnne of Green GablesHamnetMaggie O'FarrellBramblewickKearton BayThe Whole of the MoonA Kiss from a RoseSummer at the Country Practice

Sharon Booth

Sharon Booth is a hybrid author who writes both small town and cosy fantasy romantic fiction. She’s a member of the RNA and SoA, and has self-published nearly thirty novels, as well as writing the Tuppenny Bridge series for Storm Publishing and two new series for Boldwood Books.

https://www.sharonboothwriter.com