Mothers - by Brenda Lozano (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

When the kidnapping of a little girl shocks the Mexican capital, the lives of two very different women become forever intertwined. Gloria Felipe lives a comfortable upper-class life with her husband and five children. Nuria Valencia comes from a working-class background and has been desperately trying to get pregnant in order to save her marriage. After traditional methods produce no results, she subjects herself to horrific fertility treatments designed and administered by men, and ultimately tries to adopt but is rejected on the basis that a woman in her early thirties is too old to adopt a baby. Failed time and again by the system and about to lose hope, she is presented with an opportunity that seems almost too good to be true.

Through the eyes of a wry unnamed narrator, we witness the battle of the Felipe family to recover their youngest member and the anguished attempts of the Valencia family to save their daughter from potential danger. With the twists and turns of a thriller, and Brenda Lozano's sharp yet poignant sense of humor, the novel asks how far mothers are willing to go in the name of love for their children, and at what cost.

Review Quotes

"Smashing . . . Equal parts detective story, family drama, and social novel . . . Lozano crafts a darkly comic and deeply human narrative. It's an unforgettable portrait of maternal envy gone mad." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Lozano's interests lie in large questions--societal expectations of mothers and the corresponding pressures to conform, how economic inequality determines who matters in a crisis. Lozano has a good eye for detail . . . The initial mystery of Gloria's disappearance gives way to deeper mysteries, taking the reader to unexpected places. Another ambitious and original work from a writer who is always worth watching." --Kirkus Reviews

"This book promises twists and turns that read like a thriller and asks how far a mother would be willing to go for the love of her children . . . I am ready for this, especially from the author of Witches." --Vanessa Diaz, BookRiot

"Brenda Lozano has written a powerful and haunting tale, full of twists and surprises, but also incisive observations on what it means to be a woman and a mother--both in 1940s Mexico and in the world today." --Miriam Toews, author of Fight Night

"I loved this book. It is surprising and mothering and abundant and wounding, a novel in which desires are ferocious yet capable of unexpected transformation, and where life--often cruel, sometimes a blessing--endlessly remakes life." --Madeleine Thien, author of Do Not Say We Have Nothing

"We hear this is what happened . . . So begins a tale with the momentum of detective fiction and the force of a historical novel. Class, motherhood, urban life, and the media are just some of the pieces in the astonishing puzzle of this novel that seems to be speaking of the past, but is actually telling us about the present." --Mauro Libertella

"Lozano's marvelous novel reads at once like a crime thriller, a family drama, a ballad and an investigation of love. Psychologically and politically insightful, while also being charming and swift, Mothers has the understated moral complexity of a fable. This is an exceptionally wonderful book." --Rivka Galchen, author of Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch

"In this novel, the language shimmers then leaves us with questions like open wounds: What are we mothers capable of doing for the love of a daughter? What do our medical and social systems make (im)possible for women? Who has access to justice? What are the consequences of fear in our society? How can we ever forgive? These questions echo through our current context. With an engaging cast of characters and an astute narrator, Lozano knits together 1940s Mexico and our contemporary moment with surprising power and tenderness." --Gabriela Jauregui, author of Controlled Decay

About the Author

HEATHER CLEARY has translated poetry and prose by writers including Betina González, Mario Bellatin, Sergio Chejfec, and María Ospina; her work has been recognized by the National Book Foundation, the Best Translated Book Award, the National Translation Award, and others.