The Book of Mothers: How Literature Can Help Us Reinvent Modern Motherhood by Carrie Mullins
“None of the control but all the responsibility. This is the irony underlying woman’s experience.”
In any particular novel, the mother is most likely to be one of the least compelling characters. This wasn’t a problem I was cognizant of until The Book of Mothers by Carrie Mullins brought it to my attention. This essay collection explores the portrayal of mothers or maternal figures in classic literature, explaining how the depictions have shaped the culture of motherhood. Finally, someone is breathing new life into these iconic characters by bringing them front and center.
Society’s Impossible Standards for Mothers
Before author Carrie Mullins had children of her own, she had an idea of how mothers should behave. But an important question kept plaguing her: How? Where did these expectations of motherhood originate and how was this expectation serving mothers and their children? It wasn’t until she had children of her own that she realized our culture’s sky-high expectations of motherhood were harmful, leaving women to try and reach these impossible standards that weren’t even set by mothers themselves.
While I may not be a mother, I have read many of the stories these mothers inhabit, and I found myself appreciating my new perspective on motherhood that I didn’t have prior to reading this book. Mullins has mined for stories in both classical and contemporary literature that portray what it means to be a woman in that particular time period, turning to these memorable women in literature for answers. While some choices like Marmee from Little Women and Molly Weasley from Harry Potter are more obvious, I was not expecting to imagine Mrs. Bennet from Pride and Prejudice as part of a Real Housewives franchise. Now that I’ve read that, it totally makes sense!
Throughout each chapter, Mullins analyzes these stories, hoping to find the genesis of our modern idea of motherhood by focusing on a specific theme or idea about motherhood, giving us the history of a certain topic and providing some context to how we experience it in the present. She also gives background on each author, showing how they were influenced at the time while providing a lens to see the character from our current perspective.
Magnificent, Ordinary and Often Unspoken
Throughout this book, Mullins reminds the reader that motherhood is a magnificent experience, while at the same time the most ordinary journey for a woman. Mullins talks about the duality of motherhood and how it can stifle or even erase your sense of self, but also provides a woman the space to mold and shape the future. The narrative of this book is impactful and heartwarming but doesn’t shy away from the harder or less glamorous parts of motherhood. Carrie Mullins uses this book to bravely explore the good, bad and the ugly of being a mother and the sacrifices that come with the task of raising children.
The Book of Mothers is a tribute to the power of how storytelling shines a light on the human experience no matter what era. I see this book as a celebration of the women who have shaped us and a reminder that the journey of motherhood isn’t linear — it is filled with love, joy, fear, sorrow and everything in between.
About Carrie Mullins:
Carrie Vasios Mullins is the author of The Book of Mothers, available now from St. Martin’s Press. Her words and photographs have appeared in Food & Wine, Parents, Lit Hub, Epicurious, and elsewhere. She is a former National Editor at the James Beard Award–winning website Serious Eats and a contributor to Electric Literature, where she covered the intersection of literature and culture.
Carrie holds a B.A. from Yale University and an M.F.A. in fiction from Columbia University’s School of the Arts. She lives in New York City with her husband and sons.
(Photo Credit: John Mullins)
