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Mother’s Day is a chance to pause and honor the women who shaped us. To celebrate, check out one of these books that explore the complex, powerful relationships between mothers and children — from tender memoirs to gripping novels. 

 

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

A coming-of-age story with themes of maternal figures and chosen family. During the summer of 1964 in rural South Carolina, a young girl is given a home by three beekeeping sisters. As she enters their mesmerizing secret world of bees and honey, she discovers a place where she can find the single thing her heart longs for most.

 

Oh My Mother by Connie Wang 

A dazzling mother-daughter adventure around the world in pursuit of self-discovery, a family reckoning, and Asian American defiance. Connie Wang explores her complicated relationship to her stubborn and charismatic mother through their travels together. 

 

Holler, Child by LaToya Watkins

This collection presents stories centered on Black families in Texas, examining generational trauma and the enduring strength of maternal love. Each story introduces us to a character irrevocably shaped by place and reaching toward something–hope, reconciliation, freedom. 

 

Tell Me Everything by Minka Kelly

Actress Minka Kelly’s life has been anything but easy. Raised by a single mother who worked as a stripper and struggled with addiction, Minka spent years waking up in strange apartments as she and her mom bounced around the country, relying on friends and relatives to take them in. 

 

Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon

Nothing brings an estranged family together like a murder next door. This novel combines mystery with family drama, featuring three generations of women who come together to solve a murder, strengthening their bonds.

 

Operating Instructions by Anne Lamott 

It’s not like she’s the only woman to ever have a baby. At 35. On her own. But Anne Lamott makes it all fresh in her now-classic account of how she and her son and numerous friends and neighbors and some strangers survived and thrived in that all important first year. With a generous amount of wit and faith, Lamott narrates the great and small events that make up a woman’s life. 

 

All Adults Here by Emma Straub

When Astrid witnesses a school bus accident in the center of town, it jostles loose a repressed memory from her young parenting days, decades years earlier. Suddenly, Astrid realizes she was not quite the parent she thought she’d been to her three, now-grown children. But to what consequence? This novel explores family dynamics and personal growth with warmth and humor.

 

Jen Pace Dickenson is the Youth Services Librarian for Polk County Public Libraries. For information about the library’s resources, programs, and other services, visit polklibrary.org or call (828) 894-8721.