The School for Good Mothers

A Novel

By: Jessamine Chan

Narrated by: Catherine Ho

Longlisted for the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel and the Carnegie Medal for Excellence | Shortlisted for The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize | Selected as One of Barack Obama’s Favorite Books of the Year!

In this New York Times bestseller and Today show Read with Jenna Book Club Pick, one lapse in judgment lands a young mother in a dystopian government reform program where custody of her child hangs in the balance, in this “surreal” (People), “remarkable” (Vogue), and “infuriatingly timely” (The New York Times Book Review) debut literary fiction novel.

Frida Liu, a hardworking Chinese American mother, is pushed to the edge. She doesn’t live up to the expectations set by her immigrant parents or her wellness-obsessed husband. Only with Harriet—cherubic and beloved—does she find a measure of fulfillment…until she has a very bad day.

In this close-to-future dystopia, the state targets mothers like Frida: mothers who check their phones, let their children walk home alone, or make one parenting error. Because of one mistake, Frida is sent to a government-run institution—a Big Brother–style reform school for “good mothers,” where every move is monitored, and even her love is judged.

For custody to be returned, she must prove that a flawed mother can be redeemed and learn to be “good.” Filled with dark wit and emotional urgency, The School for Good Mothers is an intense, captivating novel that scrutinizes upper-middle-class parenting, systemic surveillance of women, and the violence exacted by both the state and one another. It offers a transgressive exploration of motherhood, resilience, guilt, and the force of love.

Using spare, compelling prose, Jessamine Chan crafts an unforgettable, modern classic that resonates with readers of The Handmaid’s Tale and 1984, while centering a richly drawn woman navigating class, race, and motherhood under the gaze of an unyielding system.

Critic reviews

"Ho holds the listener captive as she narrates this deeply engrossing portrait of the boundless depth of a mother’s love. Her exquisite narration channels a heartbreaking, terrifying, and prescient story that leaves the listener gutted."

Good concept, mediocre execution, despicable main character

I have to make myself keep listening because I HATE the main character and the story is not compelling. I am hating myself for my finish every hook started self.

A lot of unnecessary messaging

The book is really great especially if you love dystopian story set in close modern times. Some of these things you can actually see happening today. I would have given the book a five star review but they were so much for messaging that had literally nothing to do with the book. It was really distracting. But otherwise the story was great and I couldn’t put it down.

Great story

I enjoyed this book. It was a little slow, but captivating. The descriptions and detail paint a perfect picture.

Overall pretty unique perspective

I wouldn’t recommend this novel to many people, but I did enjoy another perspective on the judgement of women and particularly one whose behavior concerning parenting is less than pristine.

More of a sci-fi novel than was advertised

Story is a little too slow for my taste. It also has a sci-fi twist, when Freda reaches the school, that was not very believable. Unfortunately the storyline was not very interesting to me personally.