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    The Mothers
    Unavailable
    The Mothers
    Unavailable
    The Mothers
    Audiobook8 hours

    The Mothers

    Written by Jennifer Gilmore

    Narrated by Tavia Gilbert

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Jesse and Ramon are a happy, loving couple but after years trying to get pregnant they turn to adoption, relieved to think that once they navigate the bureaucratic path to parenthood they will finally be able to bring a child into their family. But nothing prepared them for the labyrinthine process - for the many training sessions and approvals, for the ocean of advice, for the birthmothers who would contact them but not choose them, for the women who would call claiming that they had chosen Jesse and Ramon but weren't really pregnant. All the while, husband and wife grapple with notions of race, class, culture, and changing family dynamics as they navigate the difficult, absurd, and often heart-breaking terrain of domestic open adoption.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDreamscape Media Audio
    Release dateApr 9, 2013
    ISBN9781624065040
    Unavailable
    The Mothers
    Author

    Jennifer Gilmore

    Jennifer Gilmore is the author is the author of If Only and We Were Never Here as well as three novels for adults: The Mothers, Something Red, and Golden Country (a New York Times Notable Book, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award). She teaches writing and literature at Harvard University. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and son. Visit her at www.jennifergilmore.net.

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    Reviews for The Mothers

    3.5/5

    3 ratings3 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Obsessive. After all the trials and tribulations the "prospective adoptive parents" went through, I found the ending to be particularly incomplete and unsatisfying.
    • 4/5
      A raw and honest examination of one couple's desperate journey towards parenthood, The Mothers is, in part, inspired by Jennifer Gilmore's own experience of navigating domestic open adoption.After miscarriage, fertility drugs and multiple failed IVF attempts, Jesse and Ramon turn to adoption as a means to create the family they want. With international adoption all but ruled out due to Jesse's medical history and long waiting lists, they decide to register with a agency to participate in an open adoption. As a well educated, heterosexual couple Jesse and Ramon expect their profile will be well received, but after the interminable process of paperwork is finally complete all they can do is wait, not for a child...but for a mother to choose them.Jesse's yearning for motherhood is achingly raw, and as I experienced a period of infertility myself, I was deeply sympathetic. Related in the first person it's a gripping account of the ups and downs of Jesse and Ramon's quest, it's effects on their relationship and theThe process of open adoption seems incredibly brutal. Jesse and Ramon are forced to wrangle with petty bureaucracy, under-performing agencies and poor screening. I was rather horrified to learn that desperate couples are regularly preyed upon by fraudsters looking for money, attention or some combination of both. They are so incredibly vulnerable as they can do nothing but wait for a birth mother to choose them. Gilmore is not unsympathetic to these birth mothers, and raises interesting questions about the birth mother's role in open adoption and the possible complications and benefits of the arrangement. There is some anger here, as well as heartbreak, resignation and hope and it is all completely believable.As Jesse struggles through the process she worries over the questions of what it means to be a mother, what makes a good mother and what compromises she is willing to make in order to become a mother. She studies the mother's she knows, while gazing wistfully at their bulging stomachs or swaddled infants. She considers the experiences of her own mother, who made her career a priority, and those of her over protective mother in law. She wonders what sort of mother she will be, she wonders if she will ever get the chance to find out.The Mothers is a confronting and poignant story of family, motherhood and the yearning for both. If this echo's Gilmore's own experience with the process (and there are suggestions it does) this is a rare glimpse into the darker side of adoption, of what comes before the happy ending, and then is forgotten.
    • 4/5
      Firstly, and as usual, I received this book for free in a GoodReads giveaway. Despite this kind consideration from author and publisher, I will proceed to be honest about it below.The summary is simple. Our protagonists are childless and infertile, nearing the landmark age of 40, and looking to adopt a child. This book takes the reader through the agonizing process they undertake from beginning to end as they seek to (+1) their family. If you are, or have ever been, involved with domestic adoption then it will come as no surprise that this book will be an automatic 5-star for you. It illuminates the process in a uniquely real and honest way. Beyond the thematic, I found the author's rendering of the story wonderfully sincere. I haven't bothered to look it up but it has a very autobiographical feel to it. If you told me that these were her own experiences put to paper I'd have no difficulty believing it. Gilmore is an accomplished writer and she puts on display for us the good-bad-and-ugly of the adoption process. I would characterize myself as not only entertained by this novel but also educated, though perhaps slightly more cynical for the effort.On the not-entirely-positive side of this novel, as a male of the species and not even remotely considering adoption, this one left me a bit flat. It's obviously because I'm NOT the target demographic but I can see clearly the appeal this would have to the right subset of the population. For the last half of the novel I could feel one of two endings coming and as the interactions grew darker I saw real potential for making a significant statement about society. The ending was not the one I would have chosen but I can see the value of it. To say more would invite "spoilage" so I will simply leave it at that. In summary, a wonderfully executed novel but with a specific target audience. Gilmore is dripping with sincerity and, to use a stale metaphor, she leaves it all on the field and arrives exhaustedly at her destination with no punches pulled (to use an even more stale but still sports-related metaphor). To all those who are or would be mothers, I say to go forth and read. To the rest of you... maybe buy a copy as a gift. You have a mother, after all, don't you?PS: It is my endeavor to provide reviews that are succinct, honest, balanced and above all help the potential reader to answer the simple question, "Do I want to read this or not?" Any feedback you can provide about how you feel I have accomplished those goals (or not) is immensely appreciated.