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The Mothers
By Brit Bennett
Riverhead, 9780399184529, 2017, 304pp.

The Short of It:

Rich and full bodied. Like a fine wine but better.

The Rest of It:

It is the last season of high school life for Nadia Turner, a rebellious, grief-stricken, seventeen-year-old beauty. Mourning her own mother’s recent suicide, she takes up with the local pastor’s son. Luke Sheppard is twenty-one, a former football star whose injury has reduced him to waiting tables at a diner. They are young; it’s not serious. But the pregnancy that results from this teen romance–and the subsequent cover-up–will have an impact that goes far beyond their youth. ~ From the publisher

I have had this book on my TBR list since reading The Vanishing Half. But it wasn’t until I listened to a podcast by From the Front Porch, that I really took note of The Mothers. This book has everything. Nadia is beautiful and flawed and caught in a world of hurt over her own mother’s suicide. Although she comes from a very religious family, and attends church on a regular basis, she doesn’t make the best choices when it comes to love and friendship.

Nadia navigates life in a precarious way. She is her father’s daughter, loyal to a point but when he chooses to remove the memory of her mother from her childhood home, she strikes out in ways that can only come from pain. Her deep need for belonging leads her to Luke but her relationship with Luke is complicated by life. Life, in the form of an unwanted pregnancy.

What does it mean to love and be loved? How does that look for you or me? Nadia’s definition of love swings from one extreme to another and yet she is wise beyond her young years, intelligent and driven. I won’t lie, there were times when I wanted to slap some sense into that girl but at the same time I wanted to just hold her.

The BEST part of this novel is the group of church ladies who function as a Greek chorus of sorts. Always chiming in, providing additional information and once or twice providing nothing but fodder to chew on. I did not grow up with a lot of women around me, I would have loved to have this group of women looking out for me. Nadia sees the value to knowing them, but also knows when to pull away.

This was an incredibly satisfying read. Anyone would be hard-pressed to not relate to Nadia in some way. Highly recommend.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Clear
By Carys Davies
Scribner, 9781668030660, April 2024, 208pp.

The Short of It:

Heartbreakingly beautiful.

The Rest of It:

John, an impoverished Scottish minister, has accepted a job evicting the lone remaining occupant of an island north of Scotland—Ivar, who has been living alone for decades, with only the animals and the sea for company. Though his wife, Mary, has serious misgivings about the errand, he decides to go anyway, setting in motion a chain of events that neither he nor Mary could have predicted. ~ the publisher

This is a beautiful, quiet, novel. Although brief, at just over 200 pages, the prose makes you want to linger in this contemplative story. John’s assignment, to deliver what is basically eviction papers to this island’s lone inhabitant, does not bring him there on good terms and he quietly bristles at the act of removing a man who has been existing on his own, not a bother to anyone. But upon arrival, John makes a misstep and injures himself quite badly.

Ivar, having not seen another human in quite some time, takes full charge of this visitor, not knowing what brought him there and unable to communicate with him in a language he would understand. For a few days, this is not an issue as John remains unconscious.

As John gets stronger under Ivar’s constant attention, he becomes curious about Ivar and wishes he wasn’t there to deliver such bad news. But how would he do that anyway? They don’t speak each other’s languages so John decides to just ride it out. Over solemn, simple meals, John ponders his predicament.

As the days wear on, the two form a bond and they begin to communicate one word at a time. Before long, Ivar pieces things together when he finds the contents of John’s belongings by the sea.

This is one of those novels that speaks volumes. The friendship between the two men is touching. As John continues to heal, his wife Mary sells all she has to secure a boat ride to the island. She intends to fetch John. Easy as that. Just get off the boat, find him, and bring him back.

Not so easy. Those final paragraphs are just beautiful. I highly recommend Clear if you like quiet, pensive reads. It will be on my favorites list at the end of the year.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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