MOTHERLINE (LISA ROSEN)

 

 

Trade Paperback/ISBN:  9780989370103

 

Maggie and Sam are about to have their first child.   Maggie is already passed her nine month due date and is feeling impatient and frustrated and is having trouble sleeping.  She is worried, not knowing what to expect when she goes into labour.  She is also worried about screwing up as a mother and even wonders to herself if babies can explode if you don’t burp them properly. 

 

Maggie is excited at the prospect of her new baby meeting her ninety-three-year-old grandmother, Yaya.  Not every child is lucky enough to have a great-grandmother.  Her relationship with her own mother, Katharine is strained after her Mom had fallen apart when Maggie was young and  pulled herself away from the demands of being a mother to her and her sister, Dara. 

 

Katharine has appeared to be more distant than usual since Maggie got pregnant – “a secret disappointment to Maggie, who had hoped the pregnancy might deepen their relationship.”  Maggie has no idea about how to strengthen and bridge the gap between them. 

 

As Maggie labours she becomes more and more upset about what she perceives as the lack of people caring for her and about her as she goes through this pain.  She is annoyed that her mother has yet to show up at the hospital while she is struggling through the pain and wants her family around her but all she has is Sam and his mother.  All she wants is to “have a baby, and have a nice, normal family that would show up and be excited for me.” 

 

I felt so sorry for Maggie throughout the story.  She made it so much harder on herself to struggle through labour worrying and questioning herself about her family, or lack of.  We all wish and want a “normal” family but unfortunately that doesn’t always work out.  Sometimes we have to accept what we have and move on as best we can. 

 

I absolutely loved Motherline and read it in one day.  I just couldn’t put it down.  I was so engrossed in the novel that I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. 

 

Motherline is a story about families, mothers and daughters, deep soul searching, forgiveness, love, and acceptance.  This is one story that all mothers and daughters would enjoy regardless of what type of relationship they share. 

 

Lisa Rosen is a great author and I’m so looking forward to her second book which, hopefully, will be out sometime in 2014.