All posts tagged: Brit Bennett

Real and Raw

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Brit Bennett can certainly craft a story. I was sucked in to Oceanside almost immediately and then spent the next few days reading while tears pricked the back of my eyes. It wasn’t that the book was sad, per se, though elements of it were heartbreaking for sure. It was more that each person’s story felt so real and so raw. I felt for Nadia, Aubrey, Robert, and Luke… even when they were making decisions that were frustrating or awful. I think the narrative voice Bennett used had a great deal to do with it. As a reader, I knew enough about the characters to understand their motivation, even when their literary counterparts couldn’t. {SPOILER ALERT} Even during Nadia and Luke’s affair, an act I generally have absolutely no sympathy for, I could see how it happened. While I wasn’t rooting for them, I wasn’t as angry with them either. I also thought that having an abortion be the driving force of the story was an interesting choice. Mostly because as much as the book …

Undecided Mothers

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I read The Mothers on a beach vacation in Michigan. There was plenty of deck time overlooking the lake, very relaxing! And it was a good beach read… I think. I guess I’m still not sure of my final thoughts. I definitely looked forward to picking it back up each day, I was eager to see where the story went, and I was invested in the characters. Bennett wrote very full characters and immersed you in their lives (Nadia, Luke and Aubrey). Sure, at times it was a little predictable, but I guess going into it you expect there to be a love triangle with some predictable conflict. And although not too much happens to these characters, Bennett’s writing style turns what seem like simple events into significant and meaningful turning points. I enjoyed her writing style, but I guess I didn’t like the story? Maybe that’s where I struggle. The story circles around Nadia’s abortion at age 17 and the ripple effects. And I guess my question is; can you really write about the …

August Book

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Image © npr.org  August is a good time to enjoy the sun with a side of a good book, and maybe a cold drink, or two. So this month we’ve picked Brit Bennett’s The Mothers as our sunshine companion. The story is set in a contemporary black community of Southern California. It’s the story of love, ambition, community, and the secrets we keep. The protagonists—Nadia, Luke, and Aubrey—are young and living their lives. It is the last season of high school 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, and a pregnancy that results from this teen romance will have an impact that goes far beyond their youth. As Nadia hides her secret from everyone, including Aubrey, her God-fearing best friend, the years move quickly. Soon, Nadia, Luke, and Aubrey are adults and still living in debt to the choices they made. Caught in a love triangle they must carefully maneuver, they’re dogged by the constant, nagging question: What if they …