The Mothers, Hardcover

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER NBCC John Leonard First Novel Prize Finalist PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction Finalist New York Public Library Young Lions Award Finalist An NPR Best Book of 2016An Entertainment Weekly Best Book of 2016A Vogue Magazine Best Book of the Year A Goodreads Choice Award Finalist One of Elle. com's Best Books of the Year-Ferociously moving ... despite Bennett's thrumming plot, despite the snap of her pacing, it's the always deepening complexity of her characters that provides the book's urgency.- -The New York Times Book Review -Luminous... engrossing and poignant, this is one not to miss.- -People, Pick of the Week -Fantastic... a book that feels alive on the page.- -The Washington Post A dazzling debut novel from an exciting new voice, The Mothers is a surprising story about young love, a big secret in a small community--and the things that ultimately haunt us most. Set within a contemporary black community in Southern California, Brit Bennett's mesmerizing first novel is an emotionally perceptive story about community, love, and ambition. It begins with a secret. -All good secrets have a taste before you tell them, and if we'd taken a moment to swish this one around our mouths, we might have noticed the sourness of an unripe secret, plucked too soon, stolen and passed around before its season.- It is the last season of high school life 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 is twenty-one, a former football star whose injury has reduced him to waiting tables at a diner. They are young; it's not serious. But the pregnancy that results from this teen romance--and the subsequent cover-up--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 full-fledged adults and