FICTION

That Kind of Mother

by Rumaan Alam
Ecco: HarperCollins. May 2018. 304p. ISBN 9780062667601. $26.99; ebk. ISBN 9780062667625. F
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New mother and accomplished young poet Rebecca Stone, who is white, gives birth to Jacob in the 1980s. Married to Christopher, a British diplomat stationed in Washington, DC, she has a life rich with government intrigue and more than a little Princess Diana-watching. When Rebecca bonds with Priscilla Johnson, her breastfeeding coach, who is black, and brings her into the home for more help, the household is thrown into a shocking crisis. Already a mother to Cheryl, fortyish Priscilla is once again pregnant and tragically dies in childbirth. Overwhelmed by grief and the impending arrival of their own child, Cheryl and her husband agree to Rebecca's wish that Priscilla's baby Andrew join the Stone family, first on a temporary basis and then permanently through adoption.
VERDICT Alam's deeply sensitive and provocative second novel (after Rich and Pretty) authentically touches on themes front and center in today's discourse—white privilege, the rocky path of good intentions, racial divides, and the profoundly intimate details of motherhood and of accomplished women finding their way in a man's world. [See Prepub Alert, 11/6/17.]
Reviewed by Beth Andersen, formerly with Ann Arbor Dist. Lib., MI , Apr 15, 2018
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