The deal: Frida has a very bad day, loses custody of her daughter, Harriet, and must go to great lengths to atone at a new state-run institution program, the titular School For Good Mothers. All of this while her ex-husband and his goop-y mistress are at home with Harriet. (PS - I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for this review.)

Is it worth it?: This book was enraging in the exact way it set out to be (I think anyway?). Yes, it’s billed as dystopian (there are a few dashes of The Handmaid's Tale and The Farm and a tiny sprinkle of Westworld elements), but it’s considerably more about race, privilege, class, sexism, and the U.S.’s nonexistent social safety net than anything else. Overall a strong debut even if I struggled a bit with the pacing and general tone. Excited to see what Chan does next (fingers crossed she leans further into the bits of dark comedy that made this book work).

Pairs well with: OITNB, Such A Fun Age, futile attempts to fight our present surveillance state

B

While reading The School for Good Mothers, I kept thinking about the mother’s I know who have done very similar things as the mothers in this book! The big difference is the mother’s I know haven’t had their children taken away, perhaps forever. Bordering on speculative fiction, this novel will alternately make you angry and heartbroken.
Very fast, engrossing read!

This is a hard novel to review...it's just so very different and I think the less you know about it before reading, the better. That said, it is brilliantly written and I couldn't put it down. I also couldn't stop thinking about it for many days - still am thinking about it, in fact!

Ultimately this book was not for me. I gave it a couple of chances as I really was intrigued by the premise. As the mother of adult children, I've been through all the stages and motherhood is hard and wonderful and incredibly hard. I could not connect with Freda and her plight.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book.

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I was not expecting this but I think I liked it! It is pretty dark and provides some interesting commentary on societal pressures on motherhood.

“I am a bad mother. But I am learning to be good.”

Let that one sentence serve as a trigger warning for anyone that needs to be sworn off literature that will push every single anxiety-laden button you could possibly have about successfully parenting a child.

Jessamine Chan’s “The School for Good Mothers” is one of the most intense novels I have devoured in a very long time. It’s raw, painful, maddening … all the things that you’d think to yourself, “Why am I torturing myself? I need to stop reading this.” Except you can’t. I couldn’t. I HAD to find out what happens to Frida and Harriet.

Oh, Frida.

Listen, unless you are a robot, chances are as a parent you’ve skated through a few crises that were the result of a blunder on your part. Like the time I went to the bathroom and left one of my toddler kids unattended for a few seconds — long enough to find out the glass front to the gas fireplace does get hot and can burn your hand. Or the time I was in the kitchen with a girlfriend when my 3-year-old daughter jumped off the couch and broke her foot.

For our protagonist, Frida, she just had a very bad day. At 18 months, Harriet is a handful, she’s solo parenting because her husband has left her for Susanna, a younger, granola-ish would-be influencer and she’s trying to juggle the baby and a full-time job. Sleepless nights, sheer exhaustion … we’e all been there. So when Frida places Harriet in the Exersaucer with the intention of running out for just a minute, even she is shocked at her lapse in judgement when the police call to say they have her daughter.

I should have picked up on the dystopian turn the novel takes right from the outset — the prying eyes of the state when Frida first loses custody of Harriet, the downright evil social worker that insists everything Frida does is harmful. But it wasn’t until her court hearing and subsequent one-year sentence to the School for Good Mothers that I realized I had fallen into another world. Though honestly, with the advent of social media and everyone getting in everyone’s business, I can’t say something like this couldn’t happen.

Frida’s year at the school is quite simply, insane. For just about every member of Frida’s circle of support, their singular goal is to make it through to the other side to be reunited with their children. And it requires to set aside your own beliefs and learned behaviors about parenting and subscribe to the completely over-the-top set of expectations as prescribed by the state. A hug for every occasion, but never more than three seconds long. The ability to heal a child’s fever through empathy, intuition and love instead of Tylenol. The ability to recognize their failures as a human being and setting aside their entire selves for the benefit of their child.

Oh, and did I mention they have to parent a robot child for an entire year and are judged on how that robot child performs and golly gee whiz isn’t that great? Oh my goodness. Crazy town. And it’s captivating, can’t-put-it-down kind of reading.

I’ll have to post this review back up in January 2022 when this novel hits the bookshelves, but if you are keeping track, put this on your list for next year. It is terrifying and fantastic all at once.

This one had 1984 vibes for sure. I will say from the premise I thought the inciting incident was going to be goofy and it would seem blown out of proportion, but the mistake she made was pretty huge. I had a hard time feeling empathy towards the character at first.

This book is a dystopian take on what it means to find yourself as a 'bad parent'. Frida was just having a bad day, one in which she leaves her daughter alone and gets child protective services called on her. I think the book did a good job of showing Frida's postpartum depression even though most of the other characters never acknowledge it-although I suppose this adds to the dystopian feel. Frieda's parenting style vs her ex's, the way she's treated by various authority figures and even other parents in throughout the book, do a nice job of underscoring her situation.

Instead of parenting classes, Frida is sent off to a yearlong 'school for good mothers' in which she is taught to care for a child. I don't want to say too much more but this book draws heavy on surveillance and technological themes that add a darkness to the novel. I really enjoyed it, and hope to read more from this author.

This book will be published January 4, 2022.
Thank you Net Galley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review.

A Dystopian future imagined, where mothers (and fathers, albeit rarely) are sent to be programmed after mistakes. God help you if Children's Services are in your business because you may be sent to a pilot program where you can lose privileges to even weekly phone calls. Well written. I seriously could not put it down. A great look at our attitudes toward motherhood and mistakes.

Dystopian satire is tough to write, but this novel is spot-on in its brutal takedown of helicopter parenting, surveillance culture and legal bureaucracy. At times this horror show of a book is tough to read and emotionally heartbreaking, but its the kind of uncomfortable experience that makes you think and feel quite fully.

I love dystopian literature, especially when it hits so close to home that it causes a bit of discomfort - and this did. I’m not a mom, so it wasn’t that I could identify with the protagonist in that sense, but I AM a woman and that’s where it hits a little too close to home. Who controls a woman’s body/life/actions/future? I’m still reeling from recent events and rulings and proposed laws in the US and as I read I kept thinking “c’mon, that can’t happen.” But then I remember thinking the same when I read The Handmaid’s Tale years ago and …
The idea of the government deciding what constitutes a “good mother” and that a large part of that evaluation is in the hands of women “book educated” but not necessarily with practical application experience, and has to do with sacrificing any independence or thoughts of self-preservation is terrifying. That can’t happen, but …
The comparison with the “father’s school” and their lack of punishments and the almost guaranteed “passing,” as compared to the rare success story for the mothers seems sexist and misogynistic and, well…
Besides the horrifying and realistic depiction of this fictional (?) not-too-distant future, the writing is bleak, stark, and convincing. The author’s voice is original, compelling, and stark. She doesn’t mince words, but brings the reader into the lives of the characters. I cringed and screamed at the depictions of the “instructors” and shared the anger and anguish of the women “incarcerated” at the “school.” I wondered what - if anything - would have stopped me from climbing that bell tower.
As a fan of happy endings, I absolutely hated this one. Unfortunately, my imagination is taking me to dark places! I wanted to see mother and child reunited, and even, potentially mother, child, and doll child somehow ending up in an alternate reality living a happy life. But, alas, it is a dystopia, so my wishes will go unfulfilled.
I’d definitely be interested in reading future offerings from this author.

First off, thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book, even though it made me terribly uncomfortable and uneasy as a mother myself. A cross between Handmaid's Tale and any number of rehab memoirs, this book is a dystopian portrayal of one mother's struggle to better herself at the requirement of the state in order to get her toddler back after leaving her alone at home for 2 hours. The mothers' mantra "I am a bad mother, but I am learning to be good" pervades the story, with shame being the driving lesson taught throughout their year-long stay in mommy-rehab.

A mother's love for her child is so beautifully and painfully described in this book. And the standards to which we hold parents, and the absurdity of some modern parenting methods is illustrated here. I would highly recommend this book.

It took me a while before I was hooked, but once I got about halfway into it, I couldn't put down The School for Good Mothers. I struggled a little bit with connecting with Frida, the main character, at the beginning of the novel, but by the end, I was really rooting for her. This book takes a unique look at how we judge what makes a good mother and how one bad day can alter the course of someone's life. It was a though provoking read that made me think about technology, surveillance, and how we give away power.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for an ARC of this book.

I really struggled with this book. The description of the book sounded so good, and I was sure I was going to be able to relate to it, as a working mother that always felt like there was so much pressure to do everything better. Alas, this isn't about a mother who is doing everything pretty well and still feels pressure to do do even more, this is about a woman who makes a terrible mistake and then can't even realize why it was so wrong.

The book goes on and on (for way too long) about how stressed out and unhappy she is, and all the problems in her life, I just couldn't connect with the protagonist and ultimately I couldn't care whether or not she'd ever resolve her issues (of which there were many)

This might be a good book for someone else - and perhaps it finally gets better, but for me I reluctantly had to declare it a "DNF" and let it go. My apologies to the author, publisher, and #NetGalley for not finishing the book, I really tried. Thanks for the free copy of the book for my honest and unbiased opinion.

#NetGalley, #TheSchoolforGoodMothers

This book was hard y’all!

When Frieda has a “bad day” that results in losing custody of her daughter, the lengths she must go through to be reunited are intense. From government surveillance in her home to being sent to “school” where the standards of a good mother are unattainable, Freida is pushed beyond the limit in her quest to see her child.

Part dystopian novel (and channeling the Handmaiden’s Tale), the reader is left to wonder how could anyone of us keep our children if there are the standards of a good parent?

This book shook me to my core and made me extremely uncomfortable. And I appreciate that. With experience in foster care - from both the foster parent and CASA angles - I saw the improbabilities in this story, which I believe is the point. Society puts so many unrealistic expectations on mothers and mothers alone. It’s not fair to women, children, or men. It takes a village for sure! And everyone has a key role.

Let me start by saying I am a CPS worker which possibly jaded my perception of this book. I understand this is a work of fiction but was absolutely horrified by the treatment of parents by CPS. Not all states are the same and not all workers are the same but that is not how it works AT ALL. Secondly the “school” and their ideals are completely messed up - keeping mothers from their children is not going to fix anything - it creates more of a rift and a lack of attachment - those mothers didn’t have a chance the second they agreed to that school. I also wanted to shake Frida multiple times and tell her to fight for all of her rights - her basic human rights were trampled on. I almost stopped reading this book because of my frustration in the way things were portrayed. I gave it a neutral rating due to my conflict of interest.

Juggling a baby, a career, and adult responsibilities is difficult for single mother Frida. Like any mother in that situation, she is frazzled, tired, and struggling. Unfortunately, Frida has one bad day and pays the ultimate price - her daughter Harriet is in her ex-husband's custody until she completes a mothering program. With the very real possibility of losing her daughter forever looming over her, Frida works hard in the program, despite prison-like conditions and completely unrealistic expectations.

School for Bad Mothers is a page-turner. Frida's predicament and participation in the training program will leave readers feeling outraged at the hoops that mothers have to jump through to prove they can take care of their children. The novel will leave the reader pondering the following questions: what kind of unrealistic expectations do we set for mothers? How effective is a system that separates mothers and children after one bad day? And most of all - how do single mothers juggle everything on their own under the weight of society's scrutiny? A must-read.

This dystopian story was amazing! I was not prepared to enjoy it so much. It was frightening to read because it could happen! If you enjoyed The Handmaid’s Tale and The Vox, you will love this too. Frida is Chinese/American, separated from her white American husband. She has one very bad day, leaving her toddler alone at home for 2 hours. A neighbor reports her and her child , Harriet, is taken away and given to her husband temporarily . A new scheme has been set up by the government and so she is sent to the School for Good Mothers. She is treated as a criminal instead of as a mother who made a bad mistake. She is not even sure she will get Harriet back after a year. It was hard to read in some ways because the mothers were treated so harshly. There was also a school for bad fathers but they were treated very differently.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

An indictment of fascist social practices, the performance of parenthood, and the ways relationships manipulate peoples' perceptions and self-understanding. Frida is a lousy mom, and she's sent to a special facility with other parents, most women, all of whom have failed to perform motherhood in acceptable ways within their social strata/communities. The parents undergo "training" with sentient dolls, passive-aggressive counseling, and punishment for "offenses" and "failure" to get the dolls to behave as required in timed tests of their mothering abilities. There's a heavy overlay of gender essentialism in the training and the men in a parallel program are clearly treated differently--usually better.

It's a well-created world and system, but while Chan tries to make the mix of parents diverse, there are no obviously queer parents, just women who enter into romances with each other out of loneliness. Following the timeline of events is difficult at times--days are counted by "days in uniform" and holidays, but this becomes confusing; it's easier when, partway through the book, Chen starts to mark time by months instead. It's easy to feel sympathetic for some of the characters, but not the protagonist, which--for me-made the book more interesting and unique.

I appreciated the message and concept behind this novel, but it just got to be too much. What is the difference between a good mother and a bad mother? And how does society make women into bad mothers? There are a lot of important topics addressed in this novel, but it was just over the top.