Editorial Content for Mothers and Other Strangers
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
Corey Ann Haydu has been a popular author for younger readers for a while now. With MOTHERS AND OTHER STRANGERS, she is writing for adults for the first time, but still with an eye toward the complexities of growing up --- and how dynamics established in youth can evolve, collapse or grow rigid over time.
In a brief prologue, readers see Sydney and Mae as adults. They are on the verge of a reunion after an extended separation, the cause of which isn’t fully explained until much later in the novel. Even this initial glimpse helps establish their characters. Mae is chaotic, messy and somewhat insecure. Sydney, at least by all appearances, has her life perfectly in order (though that assumption is soon called into question in a major way).
"[R]eaders will remain intrigued by the shifting relationships among the characters throughout. They also will appreciate Haydu’s thoughtful reflections on girls’ and women’s relationships, among both friends and family."
The book then switches gears to a far-distant past, when the girls meet as three-year-olds on the playground. The preschoolers take an instant liking to one another; their mothers, on the other hand, require a bit longer to warm up. Sydney’s mom, Beth Ann, is a perfect suburban stay-at-home parent. Her days are dictated by routines of errands, playdates, enrichment lessons for her only daughter, and cooking dinner for her family. Mae’s mom, Joni, appears somewhat of a fish out of water in Sommersette, a fictional Massachusetts suburb. She’s free-spirited and permissive, easily bendable to Mae’s whims, and an aspiring artist.
But, as sometimes happens when children become fast friends, proximity, circumstances and more than a little loneliness result in Beth Ann and Joni also becoming good friends over time. They often share meals at one another’s houses and even go on occasional family vacations together. As the girls grow older, however, the family dynamics take a darker turn. In the wake of a tragedy and some resulting revelations of secrets long kept, Sydney and Mae’s lifelong friendship collapses spectacularly after they’re both young adults living in the city.
The novel goes back and forth between sections labeled “Then,” focusing on the early years of the family’s interactions, and “Now,” alternating perspectives between an adult Sydney and an adult Mae as they entertain the idea of a reconciliation. On Sydney’s side, these attempts to rekindle a friendship are largely prompted by her hope that Mae might be enticed to join the multi-level marketing scheme that, thanks to Beth Ann (who is now a true believer), she has become involved with. Mae’s motives are perhaps purer. Newly single and expecting her first child, she longs for a connection that resembles the closeness she and her best friend once shared.
Pretty much everyone in MOTHERS AND OTHER STRANGERS is holding on to multiple secrets, many of which aren’t revealed until very late in the story. Some of these are hinted at, while others are more of the bombshell variety. Although the novel’s pace slows down somewhat in the middle, readers will remain intrigued by the shifting relationships among the characters throughout. They also will appreciate Haydu’s thoughtful reflections on girls’ and women’s relationships, among both friends and family.
Teaser
When Sydney and Mae meet on the playground as toddlers, it seems like kismet. Even their very different mothers --- the Type-A Beth Ann and the free-spirited Joni --- agree the girls are made for each other. Then a falling-out draws them apart, and decades later, the loneliness still lingers for the newly pregnant Sydney. Adrift in the absence of her closest friend, Sydney has been drawn into a Multi-Level Marketing scheme. Across the city, Mae is stunned to find herself single, pregnant, and still haunted by the loss of her mercurial late mother, Joni. When Sydney and Mae find themselves back in one another’s lives, each with a baby girl on the horizon, it once again seems like destiny. But soon they will discover a devastating secret at the center of their orbits --- a truth that finally will bind them or shatter them for good.
Promo
When Sydney and Mae meet on the playground as toddlers, it seems like kismet. Even their very different mothers --- the Type-A Beth Ann and the free-spirited Joni --- agree the girls are made for each other. Then a falling-out draws them apart, and decades later, the loneliness still lingers for the newly pregnant Sydney. Adrift in the absence of her closest friend, Sydney has been drawn into a Multi-Level Marketing scheme. Across the city, Mae is stunned to find herself single, pregnant, and still haunted by the loss of her mercurial late mother, Joni. When Sydney and Mae find themselves back in one another’s lives, each with a baby girl on the horizon, it once again seems like destiny. But soon they will discover a devastating secret at the center of their orbits --- a truth that finally will bind them or shatter them for good.
About the Book
Two estranged childhood best friends reunite as expectant mothers after a mysterious falling-out between their own mothers keeps them apart for years. Perfect for readers of Claire Lombardo and J. Courtney Sullivan.
When Sydney and Mae meet on the playground as toddlers, it seems like kismet. Even their very different mothers --- the Type-A Beth Ann and the free-spirited Joni --- agree the girls are made for each other, and it's not long before even the mothers become inseparable.
Then a falling-out draws them apart, and decades later, the loneliness still lingers for the newly pregnant Sydney. Adrift in the absence of her closest friend, Sydney has been drawn into a Multi-Level Marketing scheme, exacerbated by the demands of her inflexible mother, Beth Ann, whose constant scrutiny seems reserved only for her daughter.
Across the city, Mae is stunned to find herself single, pregnant, and still haunted by the loss of her mercurial late mother, Joni, whose mysterious death holds as many unanswered questions as Mae does herself. Mae is an artist who has lived under the shadow of the one painting (of two girls) that made her famous years ago, the success of which confines as much as it defines her.
When Sydney and Mae find themselves back in one another’s lives, each with a baby girl on the horizon, it once again seems like destiny. Each begins to pull the other away from the coercive influence of outsiders --- mommy groups, marketing schemes, artistic pressures and ex-boyfriends. But the two women will soon discover that it’s not destiny that has drawn them together this time, but a devastating secret at the center of their orbits --- a truth that finally will bind them or shatter them, for good.
An intimate and searing novel about mothers and daughters, and destiny and desire, MOTHERS AND OTHER STRANGERS takes a full-hearted look at those relationships in life that are as impossible as they are utterly essential.
Audiobook available, read by Beth Hicks
