Mother in the Dark

A Novel

By: Kayla Maiuri

Narrated by: Holly Linneman, Thérèse Plummer

Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

"Tender and unsparing, this is a novel to hold onto."—Crystal Hana Kim, author of If You Leave Me

“A masterfully written novel, alive and lyrical, a hypnotic rendering of the mess and the tenderness of family life.”—Claire Lombardo, author of The Most Fun We Ever Had

A novel about family secrets and a volatile relationship between a mother and her daughters.

When Anna’s sister calls with an urgent message, Anna doesn’t return the call. She knows it’s about their mother.

Growing up in an Italian American family in working-class Boston, Anna lives a simple but comfortable childhood—filled with homemade meals and front-porch gatherings in a close-knit neighborhood. She and her sisters are devoted to their mother, orbiting her like the sun, trying to keep up with her loving but mercurial nature. When their father gets a new job outside the city, the family is tossed unceremoniously into a middle-class suburban existence. Anna's mother is suddenly adrift, and the darkness lurking inside her ignites. Her daughters, isolated and trapped with her in their new house, do everything they can to keep her from unraveling.

Alternating between Anna's childhood and her twenties, when she receives a shattering call about her mother that threatens to blow up her precariously constructed life in New York, Mother in the Dark asks whether we can ever return home when the idea of home is fraught with instability. This story about sisterhood, the complications of class, and the chains of inheritance between mothers and daughters delivers an unvarnished portrayal of the fragile horrors of domestic life and a young woman consumed by her past.

©2022 Kayla Maiuri (P)2022 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Striking... Maiuri’s prose is empathetic and remarkable, a meditation on the kind of attention a girl can bestow upon her mother, even when unrequited."—New York Times Book Review

“This is a masterfully written novel, alive and lyrical, a hypnotic rendering of the mess and the tenderness of family life.”—Claire Lombardo, author of The Most Fun We Ever Had

“The rich and haunting story is coupled with prose just as rich and just as haunting. It’s a novel that packs a punch and will sit with you long after you finish it.”—Debutiful

you won't want to put it down

great storytelling, so lyrical and descriptive. you will feel like you know all of the characters personally. wonderful depiction of mother/daughter and sister relationships that will tug at your heart

This should've been a short story

Usually, when I say, "this could work as a full-length novel," after reading flash ficton pieces or even micro fiction ones, it's a compliment. Having the opposite happen is exactly that--the opposite of a compliment. Honestly, if it weren't for Linneman & Plummer's very emotive narration, I would've chucked this book as a 'wasted buy' in the first part. The themes it tried to address were good--family, mental health, gender stereotypes, etc etc. But just like many fails, this book's a 'good premise bad writing' piece of work. The structure was barely able to hold itself together. Chapters ended choppily and gave whiplashes--not in the good way. Character arcs weren't given the brilliant run they could've had and the ending? That was just a joke. If you wanna listen to these narrators, fine spend your credit on it. If not, go find another book to better spend money on. Nice try.