Landau's writing in this book is very good. I enjoyed the subtly of the writing and how when mixed with the more direct parts of the book it created a space for readers to make their own judgements of what could have been, who these characters are, and what is happening in the world around them. I love books that focus on the development of a character and seeing Ava's though patterns, actions, rational, and personality allowed for me to see a well rounded person that I got to experience the ups and downs of her life with.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this eARC.

The Mother of All Things follows mom Ava as the full brunt of raising a family falls solely on her while her husband spends all his time shooting a film in Bulgaria.

I feel like I want to call this book essentially Midsommar for literary moms, except that feels a little misleading in that the brunt of this book is about both contemporary and ancient women, their lives, and their internal struggles, and only a tiny bit of it involves doing a bad thing to a man. This book is slow, takes its time to get to all of its points, and is very decidedly not about the plot at all. Rather, this felt like a careful dissection of Ava, of the space she occupies, and of the spaces we all occupy as women. Though I cannot pretend to relate to a lot of the topics explored here -- most notably, I am not a mother -- I will say that this book was incredibly thought-provoking. Ava grapples with her own identity, with the disconnect between who she is, who she used to be, and who she might become, in ways that I think are worth talking about, because even if our journeys don't look like Ava's (especially the academia of it all) I think the difficulty of these kinds of changes -- and the inherent loneliness women often experience as a result of them -- are in many ways universal.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend this to everyone. I think you've really got to be one of those people who doesn't mind slogging through a lot of internality, who likes a slow-paced lit fic book, but readers who thrive on this kind of fare will find a lot here to love.

Thank you so much net galley for allowing me this opportunity to read this book in advance in exchange of an honest review

I am truly obsessed with this book! It reflected on a lot of the feelings I have about being a woman and existing within a deeply entrenched patriarchy, having children, raising children, anxiety, and aging. I loved both narratives and felt a connection to ancient womanhood and the goddess. "As women, we're tasked with the emotional labor and intuitive understanding of everyone's needs while subordinating our own desires over and over again."

I'm going to be the odd one out who thinks Landau tried too hard to write a feminist manifesto. Ava, a professors, is in Bulgaria where her husband is shooting a movie. She's caring for their children, including an annoying teen, and managing their lives even as she's also seething about the professor who squashed her years ago. And then this moves back and forth to 415 BC. There's a lot of anger here. While some of it is relatable (the frustrations of life), some of the rest of it left me scratching my head. And the ending? No spoilers. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. While it wasn't for me, I'm sure others will enjoy this.

This was a really well done debut novel from Alexis Landau, it had the elements that I was hoping for and enjoyed about the genre. I enjoyed the Greek elements going on through this and thought the overall feel worked. I enjoyed getting to know Ava through this book and the rest of the characters.

When I read "the eternal stages of woman-hood" in the description, I promised myself I would put it down at the first mention of maiden-mother-crone. Alas, I did not. This novel attempted to follow in Nightbitch's and Motherthing's footsteps, addressing the strains and terrors of motherhood, but it doesn't quite make it for me.

This book simply wasn't for me. At the sentence level, Landau regularly produces beautiful prose, but I found myself thrown by the characters. Ava, the novel's protagonist, grows resentful and full of rage, but does not address these issues with her husband (who is Swedish, which Ava thought would make him more predisposed to an equal division of domestic labor). While I certainly resonate with female rage, Ava's desire to reclaim an overly romanticized vision of ancient women's power feels hollow and out of touch.

Though I don't suspect this was Landau's intent, the pseudo feminist language that pervades the "divine feminine" slides easily (and almost unavoidably) into gender essentialism. Ava's inability to conceptualize womanhood as separate from reproductive possibilties is, to be blunt, bad. Ava feels trapped in second-wave logic and her rage is quenched when, after the violent expression of her power, her husband "still wants" her.

2.5 ⭐ I wanted to love this book and, based on its summary, I really thought I would. But unfortunately I couldn’t bring myself to finish it. It reads almost like a stream of consciousness and feels unnecessarily political at times and borderline like you’re being lectured to. I found myself immediately frustrated and annoyed with the main character. I’m the type of reader that if I struggle to connect with any characters, I have a very hard time getting into a book, which was what happened here.

It’s possible that the story redeems itself and others will be able to better appreciate the feminist rage that I can tell the author is going for, but it just wasn’t for me.

The Mother of All Things follows Ava Zaretsky, a wife, mother, and art professor, who travels to Bulgaria with her husband and two young children while her husband films a movie. Ava encounters her mentor from college and the book explores her journey through motherhood and discovering herself.

Thank you to Alexis Landau, Knopf Pantheon, & NetGalley for the ARC! All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pantheon for an ARC in exchange for a review. The Mother Of All Things is best served with wine, dolmas, and letting your husband watch the kids.

The story follows Ava as she takes on full domestic responsibilities while her husband Kaspar shoots a (very bizarre) action movie in Sofia, Bulgaria. The couple reunite after months apart, but it’s not a blissful reunion. The rage Ava feels is not just toward Kaspar, but a system that goes back centuries. (Passages from Ava’s manuscript, which follows a woman in Ancient Greece, offers parallels to Ava’s lack of freedom.) A surprise encounter with Ava’s former professor continues to stir the rage, grief, and frustration Ava feels toward the patriarchy, and the two join other women in secret rituals honoring the Great Goddess, womanhood and motherhood.

This was an interesting one. I enjoyed stepping into Sofia with the characters and exploring the Greek myths (which I’m pretty unfamiliar with). I loved learning about the theories surrounding the Great Goddess and the slight dips into magical realism. Plus, the writing doesn’t hold back. Ava explains, with vulnerability and honesty, the heartbreak and agony of being a mother in a patriarchal society. How women take on the physical pain and exhaustion of pregnancy and motherhood while still expected to maintain the home and pursue their own dreams. Ava’s own dreams of writing a book hit close to home, but since I’m not a mother, a lot of these meditations were just out of my reach. I felt close enough to the character to empathize with her but didn’t want to dive into the rage and frustration that she was going through. At points, it even made me not like the character. I wanted this character to *do* something, and the resolution didn’t leave me fully satisfied. I left this book feeling hesitant about motherhood, happy I’ll be co-parenting with a woman, and wondering if this author will write more about the Greek myths like this. I am curious to read more!

Thank you to the publishing team for the review copy. Landau's The Mother of All Things was highly relatable to me as a mother and also as a teaching professor and as someone who teaches a lot about gender roles and constraints and all of the themes often raised in this book; my review is likely colored by the layers of connection I felt to the book. This one won't be for all readers but I valued the themes, the storytelling approach, and how Landau approached allowing her main character to uncover and discuss female rage. There were some approaches to the writing/storytelling that were a bit distracting, such as the Greek storyline, and some tighter writing, development of the narrative, might have helped with engagement but the ideas and overall execution, really worked for me.

The more I think about this the more I like it honestly. There were some ideas or plot points I thought got ignored but actually did get resolved just unsatisfyingly which is kinda the point. It was well written and just Very True in regards to how people think progress is no longer necessary and the way labor is gendered and constant. Did not love the greek dual timeline…understand what it was trying to do but fell flat.

3.5

thanks to netgalley and knopf for the arc!!

This book is captivating. The way Landau writes about female rage, a quiet undercurrent of the steady beat of daily life strikes just the right balance. Our heroine Ava, is at times reluctant to rock the boat, but we as readers urge her on, to take the leap and put herself first, processing her past to move her towards the future she wants. I love the Virginia Woolf stream-of-consciousness style of writing, used both in the current day story and in the flashback narrative.
My one complaint is that the back of the book references an incredible ancient tradition of women seeking power and redemption for themselves away from men. This storyline builds and swirls, but doesn’t reach its crescendo until almost three quarters of the way through the book. I wish it had been sooner, and with more emphasis on Ava’s daughter, Margot.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley, and sadly, DNFed the book. For one, I’m not a big fan of the writing style as everything moved fast going from place to place. Also, it felt like the author was trying to cram every feminist issue into Ava’s thoughts right at the beginning of the story. This, in itself, isn’t an issue except it felt forced and artificial. Usually I have no issues getting into books where I do not identify with the main character, but I had a hard time reading Ava’s thoughts and her conclusions. All in all, this book isn’t too bad, but I don’t think I am the right audience (as a 21 year old). Although this book is called “The Mother of All Things,” I don’t think you need to have children to like this book, but you need to have an appreciation for the thankless labor women provide.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pantheon for this advanced reader's copy. In exchange, I am providing an honest review.

Ava Zaretsky and her children have joined her husband, their dad, in Bulgaria for the summer while he has his first shot at producing a big movie. Arriving in Bulgaria is an exhausted and worn-out Ava. She feels out of sorts, bewildered at her life, and regretful about what she has and hasn't accomplished. When a chance encounter with an old college professor happens, Ava begins to examine her choices and decides she will begin to make different ones. Part of this decision to make different choices is to be swept up in the tidal wave of this professor and allow herself to be carried along to return to her younger feminist self. But she's who she is now, she has children and a husband and a career. Can she return to her feminist roots and still keep the life, and the people in it, she has now?

Nope. Nope nope nope. I kind of see what Landau was attempting with this book - with the character, the conflict, and partly the resolution she chose for Ava. But nope. This was an incredibly tedious, aggravating, and annoying read. Ava's weird obsession with her old college professor was, well, weird. It was very off-putting. Her bewilderment was mostly relatable as it's the female's version of a mid-life crisis and I'm walking through that bewilderment myself but I found myself annoyed with her. In my opinion, Ava was not a likable or even relatable character. I've gone round and round about my reaction to her and to the book as a whole and my final conclusion about it is it feels, and reads, incredibly trite. Just nope.

Wasn’t the book for me - excessive political references, excessive feminism, and excessive commentary on social issues. Perhaps best for those who enjoy reading about those topics.

Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor for the opportunity to read this book.

The Mother of All Things really is a perfect title for this book. To be honest I have mixed feelings on this one. I really enjoyed the rawness of the characters and the mother daughter dynamics. The female rage surrounding motherhood and marriage dynamics is relatable. The history of the Goddess was very interesting. On the other hand, at times it felt repetitive and pretentious. Some parts made me feel like I wasn’t enough of an academic to enjoy this book. Another review referring to it as “a lecture on feminism” feels accurate for me as well.

Thank you NetGalley and Pantheon for this arc in return for an honest review!

this book in my opinion perfectly displays womanhood. the emotions including feminine rage -oh yes a masterpiece for sure. this novel is light in some areas, darker in others and quite frankly feels a lot like life does. it is surely a emotional driven piece by Landau. the talent is remarkable.. thank you for the chance to arc read. I look forward to purchasing this as a physical copy.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for an advanced reader's copy of this book.

This novel’s meditation on motherhood and manifesto on marriage explores the physical and emotional pains of womanhood in the present and ancient past.
Ava is 45 years old, the mother of 10-year-old Sam and 13-year-old Margot. Her husband, Kasper, has finally realized his dream of producing a movie, but will be filming in Bulgaria for 6 months. For the first three months, Ava is on her own with the children and her adjunct professor role at a small college. For the second three months, she and the children go to Bulgaria to be with Kasper – though so preoccupied is he with the film, that he is rarely with them physically, and almost never mentally. Meeting other women there, including her former thesis advisor, brings both Ava’s anxiety about mothering and her anger at Kasper to a breaking point.
The writing is strong and imaginative, and the ideas captured in the book are intriguing and thought-provoking, but there are too many instances and too many details of them, which dilutes their power.
The true heart of the book seems to be the sharing of long-suppressed female-centered, mystery religions, aided by mind-enhancing herbal concoctions. While showing the beauty and power of women bonding and exploring their deepest concerns together, the author also lays out the pitfalls of contemporary feminism. But there can be a thin line between satire and mockery, and in this book it sometimes seems perforated.
Tighter editing could have made this an excellent book; instead, it is one worth reading for its depiction of female friendship, aging, and the issues faced by anxious mothers of girls maturing into adolescence.

“Kept busy by her obligations as a wife and mother, art history professor Ava Zaretsky has little time to devote to her research and writing. Now tagging along on her film-producer husband’s shoot in Bulgaria for the summer, where she’s mostly solo parenting her sweet son and rebellious budding tween daughter, she has a chance encounter with her fierce feminist mentor from college, which changes everything.

Ava is swept up into a circle of women who reenact ancient Greco-Roman mystery rites of initiation, bringing her research to life and illuminating the story of a 5th-century-BC mother-daughter pair whose sense of female loyalty to each other and connection to the divine feminine guides Ava in her exploration of the eternal stages of womanhood.”


This book took me awhile to get into. But I did enjoy it! It is full of feminism, mother daughter relationships, and motherhood.

The characters were well developed and it is told in multiple POVs. This is a politically filled book, so if that’s not your vibe this may not be the book for you.

I read about 1/3 of this book and just could not go on. It really seemed to be more of a lecture on feminism than a story. Being a woman and an executive in a traditionally male environment, I appreciate the cause of feminism but this book just drug out the same arguments over and over. I don't give up on a book very often but I just couldn't get into the story between all the lectures.