Mothers and Other Strangers - by Corey Ann Haydu (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Two estranged childhood best friends reunite as expectant mothers, after a mysterious falling-out between their own mothers keeps them apart for years​. Perfect for readers of Claire Lombardo and J. Courtney Sullivan.

When Sydney and Mae meet on the playground as toddlers, it seems like kismet. Even their very different mothers--the Type-A Beth Ann and the free-spirited Joni--agree the girls are made for each other, and it's not long before even the mothers become inseparable.

Then a falling out draws them apart, and decades later, the loneliness still lingers for the newly pregnant Sydney. Adrift in the absence of her closest friend, Sydney has been drawn into a Multi-Level Marketing scheme, exacerbated by the demands of her inflexible mother, Beth Ann, whose constant scrutiny seems reserved only for her daughter.

Across the city, Mae is stunned to find herself single, pregnant, and still haunted by the loss of her mercurial late mother, Joni, whose mysterious death holds as many unanswered questions as Mae does herself. Mae is an artist who has lived under the shadow of the one painting (of two girls) that made her famous years ago, the success of which confines as much as it defines her.

When Sydney and Mae find themselves back in one another's lives, each with a baby girl on the horizon, it once again seems like destiny. Each begins to pull the other away from the coercive influence of outsiders--mommy groups, marketing schemes, artistic pressures, and ex-boyfriends. But the two women will soon discover that it's not destiny that has drawn them together this time, but a devastating secret at the center of their orbits--a truth that finally will bind them or shatter them, for good.

An intimate and searing novel about mothers and daughters, and destiny and desire, Mothers and Other Strangers takes a full-hearted look at those relationships in life that are as impossible as they are utterly essential.

Review Quotes

"Haydu's wonderful adult debut explores the interwoven lives of two families. . . . Haydu expertly seeds the narrative . . . and stacks the plot with surprises. It's a beautiful tale of complicated friendships."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"In Mothers and Other Strangers, Corey Ann Haydu offers a fresh perspective on the rich and tangled relationships among women, their best friends, and their mothers. Haydu nails the complicated mix of love, suffocation, admiration, and repulsion that shows up in our deepest relationships. This book is a gift and a revelation. A perfect book club read!"
--Christie Tate, author of B.F.F.: A Memoir of Friendship Lost & Found and Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life

"In Mothers and Other Strangers, Corey Ann Haydu illuminates the fragile architecture of memory, friendship, and family inheritance, revealing the ways love endures - and falters - across years and generations. A deeply felt, penetrating debut that brims with insight."--Adrienne Brodeur, author of Little Monsters and Wild Game

"As elegant as it is impactful, Mothers and Other Strangers is an exquisite story about the highs and lows and complexities of motherhood. Characters navigate upheaval in their relationships with one another and within themselves as shadows from the past loom large, and an explosive secret vibrates through their lives in different ways and at different frequencies. I loved this generous, poignant, and powerful novel."--Rebecca Kauffman, author of I'll Come to You

"Corey Ann Haydu's Mothers and Other Strangers is a compelling and immersive novel that brilliantly weaves the past and present of four women together in a fascinating tapestry of love, pain, betrayal, hope, regret, and healing. I couldn't put it down."--Jill Santopolo, author of The Light We Lost

"Corey Ann Haydu is one of the wisest, most soulful, and heartfelt writers we have today."
--Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of Daisy Jones & The Six

About the Author

Corey Ann Haydu is the author of several titles for children and young adults, and a professor of VCFA's creative writing for children program. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, and of course, her two daughters. Mothers and Other Strangers is her adult debut.