That Kind of Mother: A Novel

Alam, Rumaan

ISBN 10: 0062667602 / ISBN 13: 9780062667601

Published by Ecco, 2018

Good condition ex-library book with usual library markings and stickers. Seller Inventory # 00103070602

Synopsis:

NAMED A RECOMMENDED BOOK OF 2018 BY:
Buzzfeed • The Boston Globe •  The Millions • InStyle • Southern Living • Vogue • Popsugar • Kirkus • The Washington Post • Library Journal • Real Simple • NPR

“With his unerring eye for nuance and unsparing sense of irony, Rumaan Alam’s second novel is both heartfelt and thought-provoking.”
   — Celeste Ng, author of Little Fires Everywhere

From the bestselling author of Leave the World Behind, a novel about the families we fight to build and those we fight to keep

Like many first-time mothers, Rebecca Stone finds herself both deeply in love with her newborn son and deeply overwhelmed. Struggling to juggle the demands of motherhood with her own aspirations and feeling utterly alone in the process, she reaches out to the only person at the hospital who offers her any real help—Priscilla Johnson—and begs her to come home with them as her son’s nanny.

Priscilla’s presence quickly does as much to shake up Rebecca’s perception of the world as it does to stabilize her life. Rebecca is white, and Priscilla is black, and through their relationship, Rebecca finds herself confronting, for the first time, the blind spots of her own privilege. She feels profoundly connected to the woman who essentially taught her what it means to be a mother. When Priscilla dies unexpectedly in childbirth, Rebecca steps forward to adopt the baby. But she is unprepared for what it means to be a white mother with a black son. As she soon learns, navigating motherhood for her is a matter of learning how to raise two children whom she loves with equal ferocity, but whom the world is determined to treat differently.

Written with the warmth and psychological acuity that defined his debut, Rumaan Alam has crafted a remarkable novel about the lives we choose, and the lives that are chosen for us.

From the Back Cover:

It's 1985, and like many first-time mothers, Rebecca Stone finds herself equally overwhelmed and overjoyed by her newborn son.

Her husband is willing to abdicate child-rearing to her as he focuses on his career as a diplomat, so Rebecca is left on her own to juggle the demands of motherhood with her aspirations to be a poet. She aims to follow the example of Princess Diana'a personal idol, the living embodiment of grace and good humor.

But it's not the princess who changes Rebecca's life; it's Priscilla Johnson, who comes to work as the family nanny. Priscilla brings order to the household even as her presence shakes up Rebecca's perception of the world. As race once again becomes a flashpoint in American society, so too it becomes a deeply personal matter inside Rebecca's cloistered and comfortable life'an opportunity to confront, for the first time, the blind spots in her own privilege.

Rebecca feels so profoundly connected to the woman who has taught her what it means to be a mother that when Priscilla dies unexpectedly in childbirth, it seems strangely natural for Rebecca to step forward to adopt the baby. But she is unprepared for what it means to be a white mother with a black son. As she soon learns, navigating motherhood will be a matter of learning how to raise two children whom she loves with equal ferocity, but whom the world is determined to treat differently.

With the same warmth and psychological acuity that defined his debut, Rumaan Alam has crafted a remarkable novel about the families we fight to build and those we fight to keep.

Bibliographic Details

Title: That Kind of Mother: A Novel
Publisher: Ecco
Publication Date: 2018
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Good