Poignant, raw, and insightful, Jennifer Gilmoreās third novel is an unforgettable story of love, family, and motherhood. With a āvoice [that is] at turns wise and barbed with sharp humorā (Vanity Fair), Gilmore lays bare the story of one coupleās ardent desire for a child and their emotional journey through adoption.
Jesse and Ramon are a loving couple, but after years spent unsuccessfully trying to get pregnant, they turn to adoption, relieved to think that once they navigate the bureaucratic path to parent-hood they will have a happy ending. But nothing has prepared them for the labyrinthine processāfor the many training sessions and approvals; for the constant advice from friends, strangers, and āexpertsā; for the birthmothers who contact them but donāt ultimately choose them; or even, most shockingly, for the women who call claiming theyāve chosen Jesse and Ramon but who turn out never to have been pregnant in the first place.
Jennifer Gilmoreās eloquence about the human heartāits frailties and complexitiesāand her razor-sharp observations about race, class, culture, and changing family dynamics are spectacularly combined in this powerful novel. Suffused with passion and fury, The Mothers is a taut, gripping, and satisfying book that will stay with readers long after they turn the last page.