The Mothers

The Mothers by Brit Bennett
Fiction
2016 Riverhead Books
Finished on April 15, 2017
Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

Set within a contemporary black community in Southern California, Brit Bennett's mesmerizing first novel is an emotionally perceptive story about community, love, and ambition. It begins with a secret.

"All good secrets have a taste before you tell them, and if we'd taken a moment to swish this one around our mouths, we might have noticed the sourness of an unripe secret, plucked too soon, stolen and passed around before its season."

It is the last season of high school life for Nadia Turner, a rebellious, grief-stricken, seventeen-year-old beauty. Mourning her own mother's recent suicide, she takes up with the local pastor's son. Luke Sheppard is twenty-one, a former football star whose injury has reduced him to waiting tables at a diner. They are young; it's not serious. But the pregnancy that results from this teen romance—and the subsequent cover-up—will have an impact that goes far beyond their youth. As Nadia hides her secret from everyone, including Aubrey, her God-fearing best friend, the years move quickly. Soon, Nadia, Luke, and Aubrey are full-fledged adults and still living in debt to the choices they made that one seaside summer, caught in a love triangle they must carefully maneuver, and dogged by the constant, nagging question: What if they had chosen differently? The possibilities of the road not taken are a relentless haunt.

In entrancing, lyrical prose, The Mothers asks whether a "what if" can be more powerful than an experience itself. If, as time passes, we must always live in servitude to the decisions of our younger selves, to the communities that have parented us, and to the decisions we make that shape our lives forever.

I loved all the Southern California references, especially since I used to live near many of the locations mentioned. The writing is very good and I was surprised to learn that not only is it the author's first novel, but also that she is only in her 20s. She is one to watch for!

Note: I wrote the above when I first finished the book back in April 2017. This is a perfect example of a book that impressed me when I read it, but left no lasting impression after almost a year's passage. I'm sure our move and related distractions are mostly to blame for my lack of recollection of what I considered a very good read.