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The Good Mother: A Novel
by: Sue Miller

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Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780060505936
ISBN: 0060505931
Label: Harper Perennial
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 320
Publication Date: September 01, 2002
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Release Date: September 17, 2002
Studio: Harper Perennial
Sales Rank: 124242

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Editorial Review:

Product Description:

Recently divorced, Anna Dunlap has two passionate attachments: her daughter, four-year-old Molly, and her lover, Leo, the man who makes her feel beautiful -- and sexual -- for the first time. Swept away by happiness and passion, Anna feels she has everything she's ever wanted.

Then come the shocking charges that would threaten her new love, her new "family" ... that force her to prove she is a good mother.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Better than Sophocles
I sent Sue Miller a letter about The Good Mother in the late 80s, and she graciously sent me a card. In my letter I stressed that unhappiness seemed to play a crucial role both in driving the action of The Good Mother, but also as a recurring theme. In her card she said, "I'm still at it," referring to her next novel.

A good example of this is the summer the teen-aged Anna spends with her father's parents in Wyoming. The heat is stifling, there is nothing for her to do, but she relishes the break from her demanding, achievement-conscious relatives back home. Her father's parents are silent country people who leave her alone.
The stay is uneventful until the grandparents realize Anna can play the piano. They sing hymns with her every night until she leaves.
The next ... Read More

Rating:

- Controversial Choice for an Open-minded Book Group
I found this story of a divorced mother's first relationship following her divorce--and the reprecussions of that relationship--to be quite thought provoking. This book will stay with you long after you have finished it. It is multi-layered and offers more questions than answers. After finishing The Good Mother, my first thought was--I wish I belonged to a book group that had read this. The character of Anna is very well developed, yet I finished the book still thinking "What is the author's intention? Is Anna a 'good' mother?" The topics explored and the ultimate conclusion are controversial and merit discussion.

Rating:

- Thought provoking, and explicit. The Selfish Mother?
I just finished this book, and boy am I exhausted. I would have loved to have given this book 5 stars, but Sue Miller's book was a little to overly explicit and graphic about everything. I felt like I was a psychologist or "Shrink" listening to every detail of Anna's (the main charactor) thoughts. This divorced mother is trying to raise her young daughter, and discover her sexuality with her slezy boyfriend. She puts herself and her loser boyfriend ahead of her daughter, drinks too much, and has only part time jobs, while refusing help from her ex or family. She continuously complains, but doesn't change anything until she HAS to. A page turner until the end. But I found myself skipping sentences and then paragraphs because of needless detail.

Rating:

- Truthful and hard-hitting
There are a few of the things I think are great about Sue Miller's writing:

1) She treats all her characters with compassion and respect - her characters are not diaphanous or caricatures and she doesn't make a point of letting you know which ones you should and shouldn't like... they are just like "real" people you can actually relate to

2) she is not a fan of sugar-coating

This is an honest, compelling, and hard-hitting novel which doesn't force easy solutions or a happy ending, and I think it's a much stronger and more valid novel than most for it

Rating:

- Fantastic story
this is my first sue miller novel and i have now ordered many of her other books. i found 'the good mother' brilliant, engaging and thought provoking. the author has a beautiful writing style with a spine tingling attention to detail. whether your heart breaks for the mother in this story or whether you believe she deserves everything she gets, this novel will evoke strong feelings and opinions. a very real exploration of motherhood and its complications.

Books : The Good Mother: A Novel