The School for Good Mothers
‘Will resonate with fans of Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere’ ELLE
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3.9 • 92 Ratings
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- £2.99
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- £2.99
Publisher Description
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
AN OBAMA'S 2022 SUMMER READING PICK
A BETWEEN THE COVERS NOVEMBER 2022 PICK
'Will resonate with fans of Celeste Ng's Little Fires Everywhere' ELLE
'Destined to be a feminist classic - kept me up at night' PANDORA SYKES
'The Handmaid's Tale for the Squid Game generation' TELEGRAPH
Frida Liu had fed and changed her toddler Harriet. She had a work deadline - an article to finish, a job hanging by a thread, a file she'd left in the office. She would go get it. Harriet would be fine. But then the neighbours heard her crying.
Soon, the state will decide that Frida is not fit to care for her daughter. That she must be re-trained. That bad mothers everywhere will be re-educated. Will their mistakes cost them everything?
The School for Good Mothers is an explosive and thrilling novel about love, perfectionism and parenthood.
A riveting, thought-provoking read' DAILY MAIL
'A remarkable, propulsive novel' VOGUE
'A portrait of our fanatical culture of judgement against women, and mothers in particular' METRO
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Chan's enthralling speculative debut opens with a woman having "one very bad day" in Philadelphia. Frida Liu, Chinese American and recently divorced, has left her daughter, 18-month-old Harriet, alone at home in an ExerSaucer for two hours so she can work, a decision that results in Harriet's removal to a crisis center. Frida is then sentenced by a family court judge to one year in a live-in rehab program for bad moms that will use constant instruction, training, and supervision to determine if she can make "sufficient progress" as a mother or if her parental rights should be terminated. Guided by the mantra "I am a bad mother, but I am learning to be good," Frida and the other 200 moms must prove their worth by raising surrogate children in order to earn their own children back. Chan raises the stakes as she explores Frida's relationships with the other mothers, Harriet and Emmanuelle (her surrogate daughter), her ex-husband's new family, and her romantic interests. Chan (a former PW reviews editor) also tightens the screws of the program itself as the leaders capriciously deny privileges, such as 10-minute Sunday phone calls home, and broaden the definitions for what's considered an offense. Woven seamlessly throughout are societal assumptions and stereotypes about mothers, especially mothers of color, and their consequences. Chan's imaginative flourishes render the mothers' vulnerability to social pressures and governmental whims nightmarish and palpable. It's a powerful story, made more so by its empathetic and complicated heroine.
Customer Reviews
I loved it!
Although so painful and hard to get through at times because of the hardships Frida and the other mothers had to endure, overall I found this the most beautiful book. I love that Frida matured and developed. I will miss her.
Lots of potential, but didn’t work for me.
Such a promising and creative idea. I really enjoyed the start of the book up until the main character arrived at the school.
The concept is really intriguing, but the majority of the book is so repetitive it became mind numbing. I found myself skim reading huge chunks because I couldn’t bring myself to read the pages and pages of routine. I stuck with it in the hope that something interesting would happen, and there were hints of drama to come that just never materialised to any depth.
The ending was good, but very rushed. Overall I think the whole story would have been much better if there was just 3/4 action packed chapters at the school.
I would read this author again, very imaginative, but this just wasn’t gripping for me.