The Good Mother: A Novel [Paperback]

Sue Miller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 17, 2002

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.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Anna Dunlap, newly divorced, is shaping a life centered around her three-year-old daughter, Molly. Then Leo Cutter sparks a sexual responsiveness new to Annaherself the product of a circumspect New England family, frigid during her marriage to a man of similar temperament. Molly and Leo like each other, too, and Anna sees them as a loving family unituntil her ex-husband sues for custody, citing sexual activities that put his child at risk. The love affair is irrevocably changed, as Anna opens her life to a court-appointed psychiatrist and bends the truth to her lawyer's strategy. Anna's first-person narrative, with its skillfully interwoven flashbacks, creates foreboding as it builds to the drama of the hearing and its wrenching conclusion. Miller's first novel is a stunner: so emotionally true and cleanly written, its characters so wonderfully and fallibly human, its issues so painful. Michele Leber, Fairfax Cty. P.L., Va.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Sue Miller is the bestselling author of While I Was Gone, The Distinguished Guest, For Love, Family Pictures, Inventing the Abbotts, and The Good Mother. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (September 17, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060505931
• ISBN-13: 978-0060505936
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #712,863 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A powerful story of sex and morality, February 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Good Mother (Paperback)

Sue Miller's story of a recently divorced mother of a 3 year old child raises moral issues regarding society's expectations of a good mother. Anna blooms sexually with Leo, but in the process "forgets" her child. The open acceptance of sexual relations and acceptance of the body leads to a clash between Anna's views and the views of her ex-husband. The novel tells Anna's story, but deals with perceptions of morality that trap too many people (men and women) today. You might be surprised who in your life thinks Anna is a good mother and who does not (and don't expect clean breaks on gender lines). Highly recommended.

87 of 92 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Good Mother, July 1, 2000

By 

Carol Haas - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Good Mother (Paperback)

I first read "While I was Gone" and became hooked on Sue Miller's writing. Just had to read "The Good Mother" and found it even better. Miller has the uncanny ability of taking flawed characters and allowing us to find some redeeming qualities, some reason to like them. Her words trigger something in all of us, that no matter how sad the story, you can't lay the book down. It haunts you days after you read it. The story focuses on Anna's poor parenting, yet Miller subtly uses the court testimony of the psychiatrist to define Anna's better qualities, and explains why, despite her irrational sexual behavior, she was a "good mother." Prior to Leo, Anna developed an emotional bond with Molly, giving her a sense of security and inner strength. And despite the tormented years that would inevitably follow the divorce and custody battle, we're told that Molly will survive emotionally because Anna is her "inner parent." She, in effect, became a piece of Molly forever. To many, that would make Anna a "good mother." Thought provoking book and author.

37 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Achieves complexity, well-crafted writing, May 30, 2000

By 

frumiousb "frumiousb" (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Good Mother (Paperback)

_The Good Mother_ manages to tell a painful story without losing its moral complexity. On the one hand, we can sympathize with Anna for wanting a relationship that feels real to her. On the other hand, she is not made to be a hero and I expect that more than one reader had mixed feelings about the consequences of her actions with Leo. It's a book about a woman's desire to be swept away by love, and what happens when she gets her wish in the context of being the custodian of a small child. The writing is clear and the book is a quick read.