The School for Good Mothers is a 2022 debut novel by American writer Jessamine Chan, published by Simon & Schuster. The novel concerns a woman, Frida, who is sentenced to a period at an experimental facility intended to rehabilitate mothers accused of even minor parenting infractions.
Writing and composition
Chan began writing the novel in 2014.[1] Chan was inspired to write about motherhood and parenting due to her anxiety over whether or not to have a child.[2] Two articles published in The New Yorker, one by Rachel Aviv concerning a mother's experience with family courts, and a second by Margaret Talbot about an effort in Providence to close the "word gap", both informed Chan as she wrote the story.[1][3] The novel includes a large cast of characters, and Chan found creating unique, full-fledged personalities for the mothers at the titular facility "quite challenging".[4] Chan set portions of the novel in Philadelphia, where she lived before moving to Chicago during the COVID-19 pandemic.[5]
Chan and her agent, Kaffel Simonoff, revised the novel together before submitting it to publishers.[6]
Critical reception
According to the online review aggregator Book Marks, the novel received mostly favorable reviews from critics.[7] In a positive review for The New York Times Book Review, Molly Young wrote that the novel "recalls" works by Kazuo Ishiguro and Philip K. Dick, qualifying that nonetheless "[...] Chan’s novel is too original to come off as a purée of influences."[8]
The School for Good Mothers has received comparisons, due to its subject matter and thematic content, to the novel The Handmaid's Tale by Canadian author Margaret Atwood.[9][10] Chan has said the comparisons are "thrilling beyond [her] wildest dreams".[2]
Through her production company, Freckle Films, actress and producer Jessica Chastain purchased the rights to adapt the novel as a television series.[12]Jude Weng will direct the show.[13]
