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The Mothers: A Novel
by
Jennifer Gilmore (Goodreads Author)
Poignant, raw, and insightful, Jennifer Gilmore’s third novel is an unforgettable story of love, family, and motherhood. With a “voice [that is] at turns wise and barbed with sharp humor” (Vanity Fair), Gilmore lays bare the story of one couple’s ardent desire for a child and their emotional journey through adoption. Jesse and Ramon are a loving couple, but after years spe...more
ebook, 288 pages
Published
April 9th 2013
by Scribner
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Apr 07, 2013
Robert Slaven
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
first-reads,
psychology
Firstly, and as usual, I received this book for free in a GoodReads giveaway. Despite this kind consideration from author and publisher, I will proceed to be honest about it below.
The summary is simple. Our protagonists are childless and infertile, nearing the landmark age of 40, and looking to adopt a child. This book takes the reader through the agonizing process they undertake from beginning to end as they seek to (+1) their family. If you are, or have ever been, involved with domestic adopti...more
The summary is simple. Our protagonists are childless and infertile, nearing the landmark age of 40, and looking to adopt a child. This book takes the reader through the agonizing process they undertake from beginning to end as they seek to (+1) their family. If you are, or have ever been, involved with domestic adopti...more
May 17, 2013
Michelle
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2013,
contemporary-fiction
4.5 stars. At times painful and hard to read, but overall a very poignant tale of aspiring parents Jesse and Ramon. Anyone who’s gone through fertility issues will find something to relate to here. This is a fascinating in-depth look into domestic adoption in particular, which is a different take than most novels dealing with infertility. The writing is stark and beautiful and my heart ached for this couple.
What’s interesting is Jesse and Ramon are difficult to like, at times extremely difficul...more
What’s interesting is Jesse and Ramon are difficult to like, at times extremely difficul...more
The title says it all. This is a novel about Jesse and Ramon who live in Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY (again with the Park Slope!). Jesse teaches at a liberal arts college in Manhattan and Ramon does something...not important because this book is primarily about women. Jesse narrates the couple's struggle to have a child and then the bulk of the narrative is about trying to adopt a child. Harriet, the couple's dog plays a large role in their lives, surrogate child as is the case, I think, for many p...more
Infertility is heartbreaking. Even people who have never had (or wanted) children can imagine, at least in part, the pain, disappointment, self-doubt, recriminations, physical demands and simple despair that go along with being unable to get pregnant or stay pregnant.
This is an exceptionally well done voyage into the kind of misery that goes along with infertility treatment and adoption protocols in the present day. If you've ever known anyone in this position, you should read this novel. You mi...more
This is an exceptionally well done voyage into the kind of misery that goes along with infertility treatment and adoption protocols in the present day. If you've ever known anyone in this position, you should read this novel. You mi...more
Perhaps you have to be in the right mindset to read this book: ready to adopt, or have children of your own, or so desperate to have them. I don't fall into any of those categories. But I think what frustrated me about this book was that the protagonist was so whiny. I realize how difficult her situation was: undergone and survived cancer, and desperately seeking motherhood and constantly seeing each and every one of her friends getting pregnant...but I didn't ever really feel for her except for...more
3.5 stars. Literary fiction that skews slightly chick lit. Narrated in the first person by Jesse, an university professor, about the struggle she and her husband under go when trying to adopt a baby. Jesse had cancer as a young woman and is unable to carry a child to term (she had a brief pregnancy once); the couple decide to adopt a baby. They search for an adoption agency, write their couple profile, and are contacted by possible birth mothers. Throughout the process, Jesse thinks back to her...more
I received this book for free through Goodread's First Reads. And I was so glad that I did, because I was very impressed by it.
If you were going to put a label on this (though, what's in a name), I would describe it as "upmarket women's fiction." It was both well-written, with a plot that kept you turning pages and distinctively drawn characters.
I really liked the writing in this novel. Lots of good sentences that subtly capture emotional meaning and nuances, that you stop and read for a second...more
If you were going to put a label on this (though, what's in a name), I would describe it as "upmarket women's fiction." It was both well-written, with a plot that kept you turning pages and distinctively drawn characters.
I really liked the writing in this novel. Lots of good sentences that subtly capture emotional meaning and nuances, that you stop and read for a second...more
A raw and honest examination of one couple's desperate journey towards parenthood, The Mothers is, in part, inspired by Jennifer Gilmore's own experience of navigating domestic open adoption.
After miscarriage, fertility drugs and multiple failed IVF attempts, Jesse and Ramon turn to adoption as a means to create the family they want. With international adoption all but ruled out due to Jesse's medical history and long waiting lists, they decide to register with a agency to participate in an ope...more
3.5 stars but perhaps could be 4 depending on if this topic is your cup of tea. It wasn't mine but it did keep me reading to find out what happens. Since I don't have kids, never tried for kids, or even wanted kids, I can't really identify with the issues and angst this couple faced but anxious to hear what a friend thinks of it who has gone through two open adoptions. I understand the author went through this particular situation so it is most likely true to life.
1 like
·
like
· see review
The plot of The Mothers is about how the protagonist, an assimilated Jew, and her husband, an Italian of Spanish background, try to adopt a baby after failed fertility treatments. The story is very well written and emotionally gripping. There are genuine family interactions and a lot about open adoption and all the potential birth mothers (hence the title). Not a memoir, although it reads like one. Sure to generate discussion in any book group.
I had a problem with this novel's voice. Since it was first person, I wondered if the narrator was real or just fiction. No, I don't mean this in some cutsy-pie meta-fiction attempt. The subject is fascinating: trying to be an adoptive mother. And that was the theme: mother. Still, there is enough to keep one's interest, although the ending is very pat and almost short story like in both its wrapping up and its inconclusiveness.
I would give this book a 3.5. I received it as a good reads giveaway. It took quite a while for me to read it because it was so sad. It was difficult to read about Jesse and Ramon's relationship. Jesse often lashed out at Ramon who sat around playing games on his computer and drinking beer. Jesse also had difficult relationships with her mother and sister. the book became more interesting as they got farther into the adoption process. I had no idea what people seeking open adoption go through pr...more
This is a novel based on the author and her husband's arduous experience with the open adoption process. Serendipitously, my local newspaper reviewed this book in today's edition (http://www.washingtonpost.com/enterta...). As the reviewer concludes, and I concur (IMHO), this book should have been a memoir.
This book had me thinking a lot about things I want in my own life, and brought me to tears more than once. I really felt like I could connect with Jesse, but in some ways, I felt like there was something lacking when it came to the characters, especially Ramon.
Overall I liked the book, but I felt like it had an abrupt ending. The story seemed like it was a little slow getting started, and then I felt like it cut off too soon. Even just a few more pages to wrap things up would have been nice. It...more
Overall I liked the book, but I felt like it had an abrupt ending. The story seemed like it was a little slow getting started, and then I felt like it cut off too soon. Even just a few more pages to wrap things up would have been nice. It...more
This book delves into the emotional ups and downs of infertility and adoption. I read an uncorrected proof from NetGalley.com and thought it was just an okay book. It spent a lot of time focused on the emotional turmoil the couple goes through but I thought the ending was way too abrupt compared to the heaviness of the story. Not one of my more enjoyable reads.
Talk about thinking! As an adopted child, this musing about the monthers (adoptive and egg donor) captured my interest. Not sure if it provides more insight to my own mother (or egg donor for that matter) but I will be thinking about it for quite some time!
Unfortuantely, I didn't connect with the characters in this book. I definitely didn't find myself rooting for the main character as she struggles with becoming a mother. Also, I felt like the author left a lot out that would have added to the story.
Apr 16, 2013
Melissa
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
gr-giveaway-books,
first-reads
I would like to say thank you as I have received this book through gooreads first reads. This book was a very legitimate journey of one couples lives towards parenthood. Jesse who after trying fertility drugs failed IVF and not being able to carry a baby to term decides with her husband Ramon that it is time to try and adopt a baby. This book will take you through there voyage of the whole process of adoption. The Mothers is well worth the read, you will not regret picking up this book.
I found this book to be very sad. I liked Jessie and Ramon and the few other characters that were constant in the story. Maybe I would have liked it if it I was an adoptive parent as well. Also I felt the ending was "open ended. Did they get the baby or not?
Sad yet hopeful. I think the topic of adoption is a tough one to take. You hope for the best and wish for the families to get the family they deserve. Gilmore's writing was right on. I enjoyed it.
Painfully honest and wrenching look at the struggle to adopt and the war it wages on the would-be parents. Beautiful writing. Every sentence is infused with feeling.
4.5 stars. Not a subject I necessarily relate to, but it was really well written and moving at times. A heavy subject, but a quick read!
1 like
·
like
· see review
I *want* to read this, but I don't know if I have the emotional energy to actually do so.
This book felt more like someone's diary, then fiction. If you are interested in adoption you will probably like this book.
pretty true to many of the realities of domestoc adoption
After enjoying the majority of this book I was so let down on the abrupt ending.
Very interesting and moving book. Read it in one day!
Fiction, domestic adoption story...
Moving. I think if I was a mother it would have spoken to me even more, but heart breaking all the same.
Emotionally exhausting!
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Jennifer Gilmore is the author of two novels, Golden Country, a 2006 New York Times Notable Book, and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the National Jewish Book Award, and Something Red , a New York Times Notable Book of 2010. Her new novel, The Mothers, will be published by Scribner in April 2013.
Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in magazines and journals including Allure,...more
More about Jennifer Gilmore...
Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in magazines and journals including Allure,...more
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May 17, 2013 10:34pm