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by Jen Hyde
This week, I spoke with Jessamine Chan about her debut novel The School for Good Mothers, and how her book came to be. The School for Good Mothers was a New York Times Bestseller, a TODAY Show Read with Jenna book club pick, one of Barack Obama’s recommended books of 2022, and optioned by Jessica Chastain’s production company to be made into a TV series for which Chan is serving as an executive producer. Talk about a career launch! Chan was 43 when she published her debut, though as she told me, she’d been working toward the goal of a first book since age 18.
The School for Good Mothers is now out in paperback. We’re thrilled to partner with Simon & Schuster to give away FIVE COPIES of the book. See details below:
So often in our culture we privilege youth. There are countless prizes for writers under 30, there’s the Forbes 40 under 40 list, aging is sometimes akin to becoming irrelevant. For as many women who attain career success in their youth, there are as many who have not reached major milestones before starting families. I’ve written before about the lack of mother-artist role models and real “how she does it” stories young women can look to for inspiration and comfort. Even so, success as Chan and I discuss in the interview, doesn’t alleviate ongoing, gendered work/life challenges that many mothers face.
A 2021 Poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago finds that 47% of women saying that having a child is an obstacle for job security compared to 36% of men.
I read The School for Good Mothers in two long sittings over a (mostly) child-free weekend. It is a fast-paced story that brings up a lot of emotions about the way the government judges mothers, especially women of color, and is inspired by real-world stories including a New Yorker article by Rachel Aviv. If you felt seen by Margaret Atwood’s A Handmaid’s Tale, you will like this book.
The School for Good Mothers is now out in paperback! We’re thrilled to partner with Simon & Schuster to give away FIVE COPIES of the book. Our giveaway ends 11:59pm pst, March 31, 2023. Please share this post with your friends! See details below to enter:
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Special thanks to Jessamine Chan for taking the time to chat with me, and to The Grass Valley Public Library for providing the space to host the conversation.
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