The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan [Simon & Schuster]

Genre: Literary Fiction / Dystopian Fiction / Psychological Fiction
Recommended Age: 18+

A New York Times bestseller and Read with Jenna Book Club Pick, this provocative debut explores motherhood, surveillance, and the impossible standards society places on women. Frida Liu is a hardworking Chinese American mother struggling to balance the demands of parenting, work, and a failing marriage. When one terrible mistake brings her parenting into question, she is sent to a government reform program designed to determine whether she deserves to keep custody of her beloved young daughter, Harriet. There, Frida must prove her maternal abilities under relentless scrutiny, facing disturbing evaluations and increasingly unsettling challenges. In a near-future society where the state dictates what makes a good mother, even the smallest imperfections can have devastating consequences. Both haunting and thought-provoking, this powerful novel examines maternal guilt, cultural expectations, systemic inequality, and the terrifying consequences of a society that judges women by impossible standards.