Books With Strong Mother and Motherhood Themes

This is a late post. I totally meant to post this on Mother’s Day, but things have been distracting me lately. I haven’t even been reading that much lately. Only snippets here and there.

Anywho! I’ve had this idea sitting in my head for a while now, because there have been a couple books that were unique and interesting and a huge part of that was because the main character was a mother or the book ended up being a look into motherhood.

The Books

The First Bad Man by Miranda July

This has got to be one of the weirdest books I’ve read. Weird is the only word I can think of because it wasn’t immediately apparent to me that this book was looking at love and motherhood in a different way. I definitely didn’t love this book, but I remember thinking it was interesting (and weird) enough to keep reading. (Read my review here.)

Sunburn by Laura Lippman

A slow burn mystery, kind-of thriller, book that follows a mother. I can’t say what her motivations are for doing whatever it is she does, because you find that out as you read. However, this one definitely enthralled me, mostly because I wanted to know why Polly was doing what she was doing. While the blurb states that this all starts with a romance (which it does), that didn’t feel like the main story. (Read my review here.)

Circe by Madeline Miller

While being a mythology inspired fantasy novel centered around one woman and the trials she faces, there was a huge part of the book that focused on Circe as a mother. I also just really liked this book. Read my review here.

Good Morning, Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton

While this book examines a few different themes, it does do a long examination in a way (I think) about the parent role in general and the mother role. I would definitely say that this book is a little sadder when looking at these characters who are parents. Read my review here.

The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware

Okay, so definitely a mystery thriller book first. However, the roles of mothers and their decisions is kind of where this book starts slash why the plot happens. I guess. I also just love a good Ruth Ware book. Read my review here.

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There are, of course, more books that I most likely read that had either strong mother characters, strong mother themes, or even both. But I have not read them recently enough to remember them.

But I would love to hear about other books that you may have read that either of the two aspects. Let me know in a comment!