Motherland
A Novel
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3.4 • 46 Ratings
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
With her trademark blend of “social satire, interpersonal drama, and urban glamour” (The New York Times), Amy Sohn delivers a candid, unsentimental look at modern marriage.
In her acclaimed novels, Amy Sohn has beguiled us with her pinpoint observations of how we live and love, giving voice to our innermost thoughts and everyday anxieties. Now, in Motherland, her most diverting book to date, she introduces us to five mothers and fathers in Cape Cod, Park Slope, and Greenwich Village who find themselves adrift professionally and personally.
Rebecca Rose, whose husband has been acting aloof, is tempted by the attentions of a former celebrity f lame; Marco Goldstein, saddled with two kids when his husband, Todd, is away on business, turns to anonymous sex for comfort; Danny Gottlieb, a screenwriter on the cusp of a big break, leaves his wife and children to pitch a film (and meet young women) in Los Angeles; fallen sanctimommy Karen Bryan Shapiro, devastated by her husband’s infidelity and abandonment, attempts a fresh start with a hot single dad; and former A-list actress Melora Leigh plots a star turn on Broadway to revive her Hollywood career. As their stories intersect in surprising ways and their deceptions spiral out of control, they begin to question their beliefs about family, happiness, and themselves.
Equal parts moving and richly entertaining, Motherland is a fresh take on modern marriage that confirms Amy Sohn as one of our most insightful commentators on relationships and parenting in America today.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In her latest satirical saga, Sohn records the crises and transgressions of privileged moms and dads spread across Cape Cod, Greenwich Village, and Park Slope, Brooklyn. She introduces a cast of unpalatable characters, including some from 2009's Prospect Park West, who gossip about money and sex and everything that comes with the territory of "Motherland. The land of child rearing, and nurturing, and nonstop care." But Sohn's parents have had enough and want some attention for themselves. Gay dad Marco Goldstein's husband is out of town, so he finds solace in sex with random men. Rebecca Rose's hubby is a distant pot-head, so she considers reconnecting with an old celebrity fling. Danny Gottleib flees his family for L.A. to snag a film deal, while his wife gets her toes sucked by a masseur. Film star Melora Leigh struggles to reinvent herself on stage, and Karen Bryan Shapiro, whose husband left her for a Puerto Rican transsexual, falls for an ex-con. Motherland is a wasteland ruled by indulgent women, and the lack of redemptive artfulness in Sohn's storytelling makes the book a bust.
Customer Reviews
Wretched
Is this supposed to be funny? Or sarcastic? It's really just sad and boring. Unlikable people behaving poorly. So what. A combination of yawn and yick.
Avoid this author!
I read part of a previous book by this author, quit part-way through and vowed I'd never read another thing she wrote again. She seems like a bitter person who is taking her unhappiness with her lot in life out in her writing by resorting to shallow stereotypes rather than deeply drawn characters.