The authors on this list have written with nuance, subtlety and consideration about the vast experiences of motherhood and family.
Whoever the maternal figure is in our lives, we all have keen memories of their nature and the influences they have on us. We are celebrating those influences with our Mother’s Day books. Because while flowers are always a lovely idea, perhaps the gift of fiction might be even more joyfully received.
Winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2020
Maggie O’Farrell‘s ninth novel, Hamnet, is a fictional account of the life of Hamnet, William Shakespeare’s only son who tragically died in infancy and inspired one of the most celebrated plays of all time.
This book explores his mother Agnes’s growth into womanhood, her journey to motherhood and the devastating impact of her son’s death. It is a beautiful insight into a family wrecked by grief and heartache. Yet it is a tender and lyrical novel that explores one woman’s desperate will to keep her family safe.
Shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2024
Visceral and emotional, Claire Kilroy dives into the turbulent early days of motherhood with her novel Soldier Sailor.
Part love letter to her young son, part emotional plea at the injustices and loss of self that motherhood has delivered, it’s a novel that packs a startling punch. Soldier vividly realises the raw, tumultuous emotions of a new mother, as her marriage strains and she struggles with questions of love, autonomy and creativity.
Longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2022
Flamingo is the story of two families and what happens when their lives intertwine. Single mother Eve moves into the house next door to Sherry’s family, with her six-year-old son Daniel. Family is at the heart of this book and, as the driving force of her small unit of two, Eve has a power over all their destinies that she is yet to realise. There are mysteries aplenty at the beginning of this book, and as the dual timelines converge the reader is left with an uplifting feeling of hope.
The relationship between parents and children, how they shift in emphasis and power over time is handled deftly and with kindness.
Longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2021
If you have not always seen eye to eye with your mother, or you have had to adopt a caring role for them in life, this book will resonate with you. It is blisteringly sharp and Doshi’s caustic wit is woven throughout the novel.
Set in Pune, Western India, it is rich with memories, expectations and resentment that categorise the fraught relationship between mother and daughter. It was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and won critical acclaim for its sharpness and depiction of dementia. It can be relentless and sorrowful, but it is a brilliant read and will make you consider (perhaps how fortunate!) your own relationship with your mother.
Longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2024
Heartbreaking and courageous, A Trace of Sun is an unflinching look at the emotional upheavel of immigration and the search for greener pastures.
Raef is left behind in Grenada when his mother, Cilla, follows her husband to England in search of a better life. This is a deeply layered story of family and belonging and how important that is for our own image and identity.
