Mothersick

“Mothersick is a gorgeous, capacious novel, a narrative as intricate and rich as the familial bonds therein. Hazell's sentences sing, and her compassion for her characters is a thing of beauty.”
—Claire Lombardo, New York Times bestselling author of The Most Fun We Ever Had and Same As It Ever Was

From the author of the New York Times Notable Book Piglet comes an expansive intergenerational drama about the making and breaking of families.

When their parents’ marriage abruptly imploded, sisters Mara and Nell made a pact: no husbands, no babies, and no repeating their parents’ mistakes. But when Mara unexpectedly falls in love just as Nell’s life spirals out of control, they find themselves at cosmic forks in the road. The moment that Mara does what she swore she’d never do—decides to become a mother—her and Nell’s pact of sisterly reliance is officially broken.

As motherhood cleaves Mara in two, Nell throws herself into a relationship with a dreamboat of a man without asking whether they really want the same things. And just when Mara and Nell need her the most, their mother moves halfway around the world, leaving her sister, Jean, to pick up the pieces. Jean holds the delicate balance of this family in her hands, but as old scars from a childhood tragedy resurface, the secrets they’ve all been keeping are soon impossible to ignore.

A profound and tender modern family story, Mothersick traces the lives of four fierce women—two sets of sisters across two generations—exploring the enduring and infuriating spell of sisterhood and the beauty, captivity, and optimism of family in its many forms.