To all of the moms, aunts, godmothers, and mother figures out there, wishing you all the happiest Mother’s Day this weekend. In honor of the holiday, we’ve compiled a list of books highlighting the different aspects and perspectives of motherhood. Check them out!
A River of Stars
By Vanessa Hua
Holed up with other mothers-to-be in a secret maternity home in Los Angeles, Scarlett Chen is far from her native China, where she worked in a factory and fell in love with the married owner, Boss Yeung. Now she’s carrying his baby. To ensure that his child—his first son—has every advantage, Boss Yeung has shipped Scarlett off to give birth on American soil.
That Kind of Mother
By Rumaan Alam
Like many first-time mothers, Rebecca finds herself both deeply in love with her newborn son and deeply overwhelmed. Struggling, she reaches out to Priscilla to become her son’s nanny. When Priscilla dies unexpectedly in childbirth, Rebecca steps forward to adopt the baby. But she is unprepared for what it means to be a white mother with a black son. As she soon learns, navigating motherhood for her is a matter of learning how to raise two children whom she loves with equal ferocity, but whom the world is determined to treat differently.
The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls
By Anissa Gray
Althea Butler, the eldest sister and substitute matriarch, is a force to be reckoned with and her younger sisters, Viola and Lillian, have alternately appreciated and chafed at her strong will.
They are as stunned as the rest of the small community when Althea and her husband are arrested. As Althea awaits her fate, Lillian and Viola must come together in the house they grew up in to care for their sister’s teenage daughters.
Make sure to add these books to your reading list!