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A Novel
by Corey Ann Haydu
Book Reviewed by: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.
Preschoolers Mae and Sydney become fast friends on the playground, and soon Mae's mom, Joni, and Sydney's mom, Beth Ann, are BFFs as well. The two families vacation together every year, and the girls, both only children, are as close as sisters for their entire childhoods. But a secret act of betrayal fractures the friendship between the two moms, and later, their daughters. Mothers and Other Strangers depicts fractured but realistic relationships, where an abiding love underpins frustrations and hurt feelings. But it's not a neat, tidy story of familial love overcoming all. There are real wounds in each of the relationships—between mothers and daughters, spouses, and friends. The characters often make big mistakes and hurt one another, but each is likeable in their own way. Though this isn't a short book, it's so immensely readable and compelling that readers might find themselves devouring it in a few sittings. It's a complex, captivating story about the ways people are shaped, for better or worse, by those they love...continued
Full Review
(630 words)
(Reviewed by Jillian Bell).
Jill Santopolo, author of The Light We Lost
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. Rebecca Kauffman, author of I'll Come to You
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.In the novel Mothers and Other Strangers, Sydney, an expectant mother without a successful career, is involved with a multi-level marketing company. She's recruited by her own mother, who found her way to the company while seeking meaning and community. The book's portrayal of how these companies work—and who they target—is in many ways true to real life.
Multi-level marketing firms (or MLMs) operate in the direct sales space. Sellers peddle leggings, makeup, diet pills, and other goods directly to buyers, often people in their own social networks. But there's another element to these companies. Recruitment is heavily incentivized, and often more profitable than selling the products themselves. Sellers generally ...
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