Mother's Day

by Laurence Fearnley

Life is tough for 40-year-old solo mother Maggie, a home help caregiver. Her three children are all giving her a hard time, especially Bevan, who's in trouble with the police. But when she's assigned a musician in a wheelchair to care for, something new enters her life. Maggie's a singer, Tim a fine guitarist. They'll make music together, but tragedy is just around the corner. Then it's Mother's Day, and Maggie and her family gather . . .

This touching novel contains many gems of warmth, affection, love and hope.

276 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Laurence Fearnley is an award-winning novelist. Her novel The Hut Builder won the fiction category of the 2011 NZ Post Book Awards and was shortlisted for the international 2010 Boardman Tasker Prize for mountain writing. Her book Edwin and Matilda was runner-up in the 2008 Montana New Zealand Book Awards and her second novel, Room, was shortlisted for the 2001 Montana Book Awards. In 2004 Fearnley was awarded the Artists to Antarctica Fellowship and in 2007 the Robert Burns Fellowship at the University of Otago. Laurence Fearnley lives in Dunedin with her husband and son.

Reviews

[Dale Harcombe · Rating 3 out of 5]

The fact that it took me a week to read this novel is not indicative of the book but more other things happening at the time. At times the prose is beautiful but this book is not a page turner. It has a gentle pace. Even though I could sympathise with single mother 40 year old, Maggie, her story never completely enthralled me. Yet I couldn’t put it aside and not finish reading it either. While I felt sorry for Maggie, I never completely warmed to any of the characters. Maggie has a dysfunctional family. She is caring for her young grandson Storm because his mother Justine is basically too selfish and obsessed with her own life and her boyfriend to take on the mothering job, even though she has two other children living with her. Justine is a thoroughly unlikeable character as is Maggie’s sister Carol. Maggie’s daughter, Lisa, has ambitions that will largely be unfulfilled and Maggie’s son, Bevan, is also an unlikable character. Maggie is a carer, who once had singing dreams that have been squashed by life. She meets Tim a guitarist confined to a wheelchair. But this too has devastating effects. Over all this is a sadly beautiful book. Not one that is greatly uplifting, but still worth reading if you ignore a bit of bad language.

[Bachyboy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This writer is NZ's answer to Annie Proulx according to one of the reviewers and I utterly agree. Set in Invercargill and Riverton, the book's main character is struggling along with her dysfunctional family and trying to hold down her job as a home help. This is a really good novel.

[Barnaby Haszard · Rating 3 out of 5]

A straight-up tale of real working class life, its many problems and sparse joys. There's a tendency to focus more on the smaller details than I think is necessary, which for me lessens the impact of the moments of drama. The edges that should be razor-sharp are subtler, the characters a little under-defined. That might be Fearnley's point, though. If your life has as many competing priorities and scant resources as Maggie's, you are liable to dive deep into tiny observations and -- for a few blessed moments -- lose sight of the bigger picture. Or fixate on microaggressions that are just so incredibly galling when you're working around the clock, paid and unpaid, to keep the wolves from the door. As if someone like me would have any idea how that feels! Well now, somewhat, I do.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a hardworking solo mother and grandmother. I enjoyed reading it and could relate to quite a few of the storylines. Although it was a wee bit hard-going in places, it gets a solid 4 stars from me.

[Charlotte Lobb · Rating 3 out of 5]

A beautifully written, deeply character-centred novel about family, hope, and tragedy. Although a little slow in places, the prose is elegant and evocative, capturing the small details of ordinary life.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book, was drawn into Maggie's story

[Emma Kelleway · Rating 3 out of 5]

I decided to read this book because I was at the library looking for a book that had been written by a New Zealand author for the wide reading programme. I found this book, and I thought it seemed interesting.

This book completes the ‘a book written by a New Zealand author’ category on the wide reading programme. I don’t usually read books by New Zealand authors, because for some reason I usually don’t particularly enjoy them, but I will probably read more books by New Zealand authors because it is good to have a bit of knowledge about literature from your own country.

One of my favourite quotes from this book is ‘she had forgotten how vulnerable Carol could be’. Carol is Maggie, the protagonist, sister and Carol can be very nasty at times. I like this quote because I think that it shows that even nasty people can be vulnerable.

Something that I learnt from this book is that you should always expect the unexpected. Maggie is a carer for the elderly and the disabled. Maggie’s son and his friend’s assaulted a man who was in a wheelchair and then Maggie ended up being his carer, which was the last thing that she had ever expected to do.

A character in this novel that interested me was Maggie’s eldest daughter Justine. Justine interested me because I thought that she was incredibly selfish. She had three children, but one of them was living with Maggie because Justine could not afford to take care of him, and she cared more about what was best for her rather than what was best for her children.

[Jane Odgers · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mother's Day
Author: Laurence Fearnley
A heart-warming new novel by the author of Edwin and Matilda, runner-up for the Montana Award in 2008.

Life is tough for 40-year-old solo mother Maggie, a home help caregiver. Her three children are all giving her a hard time, especially Bevan, who's in trouble with the police. But when she's assigned a musician in a wheelchair to care for, something new enters her life. Maggie's a singer, Tim a fine guitarist. They'll make music together, but tragedy is just around the corner. Then it's Mother's Day, and Maggie and her family gather . . .


This touching new novel from Laurence Fearnley contains many gems of warmth, affection, love and hope. It confirms her position as one of New Zealand's finest writers.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really didn't like the main character but I couldn't put the book down! I was by turns frustrated and sympathetic with the main character - Maggie - and wanted her to get herself and her family sorted. I appreciated her awkwardness in social situations and appreciated her desire to protect her family. Great writing.