Little Earthquakes

Anonymous wrote:The Confession Club, Talk Before Sleep and others by Elizabeth Berg

Nancy Thayer books

Good suggestions! I highly recommend 'Three Women at the Water's Edge' by Nancy Thayer. She mostly writes beach fiction now (which is not bad) but her earlier works were more thoughtful and attuned to women's issues, particularly in raising children, relationships with friends, lovers, mothers and sisters.

Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood (female friendship)

Anonymous wrote:My brilliant friend - Elena Ferrante.

Some parts of her "Lost Daughter" book are painfully resonant for me.

Anonymous wrote:Not the best literature, but for a really realistic look at a certain slice of UMC motherhood that DCUM knows very well, The 10 Year Nap by Meg Wolitzer. It describes a group of UMC NYC mothers with various experiences with modern motherhood. Some parts of it -- like how one mother tried to juggle her Biglaw work with a baby or another confronted the passive aggressive competitiveness among parents at a private school rang painfully true.

Similar read: I Don't Know How She Does It, by Allison Pearson

Mourning Ruby by Helen Dunmore

I recently finished Wrong Place Wrong Time and it made me really reflect deeply on motherhood in a way I wasn’t expecting when I picked it up.

Anonymous wrote:Anne Lamott has 2 books - Operating Instructions (on motherhood) and Some Assembly Required (when her grandson was born).

+1 at least for Operating Instructions, I still have a hard time remembering that kid is an adult now

Recently read Kristin Lavransdatter, but Sigrid Undset. Lots about motherhood.

I remembered this thread and found it because this book I'm reading now is about both friendship and motherhood and it's SO interesting!

It's called "Island of the Sea Women" and it's about Jeju Island (now in S. Korea) and the matriarchical island society there, where women deep sea dive for food and the men watch the kids. Goddess religion, too. The timeframe is around the 30s to 2008, as the culture has changed due to WWII and other reasons.

That's the backdrop of a story of two best friends and also their motherhood experiences.

Not the best literature, but for a really realistic look at a certain slice of UMC motherhood that DCUM knows very well, The 10 Year Nap by Meg Wolitzer. It describes a group of UMC NYC mothers with various experiences with modern motherhood. Some parts of it -- like how one mother tried to juggle her Biglaw work with a baby or another confronted the passive aggressive competitiveness among parents at a private school rang painfully true.

Crying in H Mart. From the adult child’s perspective.

The Neopolitan novels including My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante are great explorations of friendship, particularly long friendships that have their ups and downs. I actually really enjoyed the novel, Please Look After Mom by Kyung-Sook Shin. I thought it was a really interesting way to explore the relationships we have with our mothers.

The Joy Luck Club by Any Tab. Not rent but the book (and movie) push all my mother-daughter buttons.

The Confession Club, Talk Before Sleep and others by Elizabeth Berg

Nancy Thayer books