individuals don't exist in the face of the collective
and what an all-consuming collective it is
Fiction, 2016
I read The Vanishing Half, another of Brit Bennet’s books, a few months after it was released. I enjoyed the story, felt for the characters, and devoured the novel in two days—then I completely forgot about it. I had The Mothers on my radar, and when I found it in the library, I immediately picked it up and began to read. Given the ultimate ambivalence I felt for The Vanishing Half, I wasn’t prepared for my attachment to The Mothers. But attachment I got, enough that when I finished it, I was crying in front of my roommate with the profound and revolutionary idea: “life is just hard.”
The New York Times began their review of the novel by listing traits of the “novel’s young protagonist, Nadia Turner”, and while I love NYTBR, this is a misleading introduction to the book. Part of why I cared so much about the novel is that there was no protagonist, no central character—only a story framed and told—like a legend passed down—from the Church mothers. This group of old women work (offer retired assistance?) in the Church of a small town in Southern California. Almost every chapter begins with “we”, and these mothers' voices echo around the book like a haunting gospel. For the various characters, Barack Obama has been elected President, the waves at the beach look lovely, but there is a shift to be worked at a greasy seafood joint.
Nadia is a seventeen-year-old genius and the first from her family to attend university. She meets Luke, the Pastor’s son, who once was a football star. Aubrey, an outsider to the town, arrives at the Church one day, pleading for salvation. And hanging over all these characters are their mothers; dead, overbearing, abusive, and above all, in need of deep love. Read this cosied up in your blanket with a single beam of light—the world will fall away so easily.
Song - Junk - Paul McCartney
Film - Being There (I didn’t like this film, but Louise really reminded me of the novel)
I just revisited this novel. It's really special.