Mother’s Day usually shows up dipped in pastels and wrapped in performative gratitude, but motherhood? That’s another beast entirely. It’s brutal. It’s sacred. It’s messy, fractured, feral. And if Sigmund Freud taught us anything (besides the fact that therapy is expensive for a reason), it’s that the mother-child bond is less of a warm hug and more of a psychological minefield.
So, this year, ditch the carnations, skip the syrupy cards and hand over a book that tells the truth: that motherhood, daughterhood and womanhood are as complicated as they are relentless.
These twelve books scream, whisper, unravel and rage, which is fitting for your unconventional Mother’s Day celebrations …
I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jenette McCurdy
A memoir that rips the Band-Aid right off the idea of “respect your mother,” McCurdy’s account of life under the control of her abusive, fame-hungry mom is brutally honest and darkly funny. She exposes the emotional manipulation she endured as a child star while exploring grief, identity and liberation with remarkable clarity and grit.
Betty by Tiffany McDaniel
Based on the life of McDaniel’s own mother, this powerful coming-of-age novel follows Betty, the daughter of a Cherokee father and white mother, as she learns to navigate trauma, poverty and a world that doesn’t know what to make of her. Through myth and memory, Betty reclaims her story, and her power.
Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies by Maddie Mortimer
This isn’t your average cancer story. Told partially from the perspective of the disease itself, Mortimer’s experimental debut explores a woman’s body as both battlefield and diary. It weaves memory, motherhood and mortality into something visceral, lyrical and strangely transcendent.
Madwoman by Chelsea Bieker
Bieker’s collection pulses with women on the edge — mothers, daughters, lost girls and found ones. These stories confront desperation, longing and love with unflinching honesty. You’ll find yourself breathless at how much she packs into each aching, electric page.
Television for Women by Danit Brown
The title might suggest fluff, but these interlinked stories are razor-sharp. Brown examines the unspoken wounds and quiet rebellions of women navigating family, culture and expectations. With humor and precision, she pulls apart the static of daily life to reveal the emotional undercurrents beneath.
Grown Women by Sarai Johnson
In poetic, compact prose, Johnson offers portraits of women caught between nurture and need. These stories explore trauma, motherhood, care and what it means to choose yourself when the world keeps asking you not to. Quietly powerful and emotionally rich.
Mongrel by Hanako Footman
A mixed-race woman pieces together generations of silence and shame in this haunting novel about identity, inheritance and womanhood. Footman doesn’t just unpack cultural expectations; she rips open the box and sets fire to it, offering something more raw and true in its place.
What Hunger by Catherine Dang
Part psychological thriller, part character study, this novel digs into obsession, rage and the price of being a “good girl.” As its protagonist spirals into the disappearance of missing girls in her hometown, the story skewers the suffocating expectations of womanhood and the maternal instinct gone monstrous.
Milk Fed by Melissa Broder
Dark, sexy and undeniably weird, Broder’s novel explores food, faith and mothers through the lens of one woman’s hunger, both literal and emotional. It’s surreal and satirical, with moments of raw tenderness that make it hit harder than you’d expect.
The Lamb by Lucy Rose
A gothic psychological tale where maternal love takes on a sinister, suffocating tone. This mother-daughter relationship is layered with dread, devotion and the unnerving sense that love can both shelter and consume. You won’t look at innocence — or motherhood — the same way again.
Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova
When her young son dies, a mother secretly saves a piece of his lung and nurtures it into a living, breathing creature. Equal parts grotesque and beautiful, this novel blends magical realism and horror to explore grief, obsession and the monstrous lengths we go to in the name of love.
Animal by Lisa Taddeo
A searing portrait of rage and retribution, Animal follows a woman shaped by generational trauma, particularly her relationship with her mother. Taddeo’s writing is feral and unapologetic, tracing one woman’s descent into violence and power with brutal elegance.