All My Mother's Lovers

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I found myself thinking about growing older in new ways, but more importantly living a full life as I age.

That last line was awful and the fact her father's asexuality and their open relationship status being kept to the end was a fucking cop-out. i found the themes shallow and unsatisfactory— the author wants to talk about race, gender, politics, and sexuality but the way it's done here grated me. i definitely recommend this, it’s a little bit slow but definitely worth it and does an interesting depiction of life and love.I felt like I was reading about caricatures, not real people, not characters that I could relate to and sympathize with. At the heart of it is an exploration of grief (not good on the soul to read two books on grieving one after the after! I think if this were a book club choice or group discussion, there would be a lot to ponder about parents being people with lives prior to having children and how those lives continue once children come into the picture. Even before Maggie uncovers the truth about Iris’ alternate life, she has an inkling that her belief in her parents’ perfect marriage is about to crumble. Where the novel kicks into gear is when Maggie finds, with her mother’s will, a collection of five sealed letters written by Iris with a request they “be sent out in the case of her untimely death.

Maggie and her mother, Iris, weren’t close, especially since Maggie came out, but she never thought they would run out of time to figure each other out.There is also the unfortunate nature of the novel’s big reveal, which feels far too easy and clean an answer for the complexity of the pages and the characters that come before. It might happen over years or in a singular moment, but somehow, by God, you’re forced to realize that your parents are people, too.

i found it a bit slow in the beginning, but near the end i was definitely more compelled and i found myself immersed in the story.Giving this three stars largely because the acknowledgements at the end were so lovely and thoughtful. Narrated by Maggie in the present and Iris at various junctures in her past, it’s a fascinating commentary on how the people we love often hide their true selves from us, and how that affects our interactions with them. They hadn’t been particularly close in years, as Maggie felt Iris never accepted her sexuality, always seeming to insinuate it was some sort of phase. This novel follows Maggie who embarks upon a physical and spiritual road trip upon the passing of her mum after discovering some letters that her mum requested be sent. It tells the story of Maggie, who uncovers a series of stories about her mother, who has recently died, that will shake both her understanding of her mother but also herself.