Questions About The School for Good Mothers

by Jessamine Chan (Goodreads Author)

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Answered Questions (19)

Is this book very "progressive", anti-conservative, perhaps anti-Christian? Many reviews make me concerned, for example with all the comparisons with "the handmaid's tale"...

K Agbebiyi you're "concerned"? lol …moreyou're "concerned"? lol (less)

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I'm surprisingly intrigued by this book. My problem is I have so many books I want to read. Wondering if a happily childfree by choice woman can get into this story. Is it very 'mothery' or is more an interesting look about the treatment of women in general?

Bettys Book Club I'm happily childfree and I really enjoyed. Yes, there is a lot about parenting but it's really about relationships and love. …moreI'm happily childfree and I really enjoyed. Yes, there is a lot about parenting but it's really about relationships and love. (less)

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Does anyone else have a problem of reducing Freida's abandonment of her daughter for two hours to "having a very bad day?" I can't get past this, and so it's hard for me to accept the rest of the book. I got this as an audio book, and didn't realize it was speculative fiction. I kept thinking, "This isn't real. The characters are all one-dimensional. It's like a bad play. Who talks like this?

Cynthia Young I think the author was trying to emphasize that most mothers have a very bad day in which we do things we wouldn't ordinarily do, but we are having a …moreI think the author was trying to emphasize that most mothers have a very bad day in which we do things we wouldn't ordinarily do, but we are having a really bad day where we aren't thinking straight. Maybe only our family knows about it, or we catch ourselves from a worse situation. Frieda had no one to catch it. I think it's honest, but few mothers and fathers admit it past telling our spouses or best friends, who confess to very bad days too.(less)

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Nicole

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As a new mom, would this book be triggering?

Kristin This book is far too close to the realities of what CPS actually puts parents through and as I've read through every page I couldn't help but wonder i…moreThis book is far too close to the realities of what CPS actually puts parents through and as I've read through every page I couldn't help but wonder if this tale is the product of a social worker's dream. I'm about 30 pages from the end of this book and can say with absolute certainty that yes, it will be triggering for many. While I in no way, shape, or form can fathom how Frida could have thought that she could do what she did, it just doesn't justify the heavy handed and extreme tactics with which the CPS in this tale handles all the mothers. This story is enough to have even the most competent of parents second guessing themselves because any little mistake could have dire consequences. (less)

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