The School For Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

 

Frida is co-parenting her young daughter, Harriet, with her ex-husband. During her half of the week her daughter is ill with an ear infection, as a result of this Frida is sleep deprived and at the end of her tether. Frida does the unthinkable and leaves her daughter home alone while she pops into work to pick up a document. A neighbour hears crying and reports the situation to the police resulting in Harriet being given into her fathers sole custody while Frida's suitability as a parent is assessed. One option given to Frida is to enroll on a year long course to improve her parenting skills.

This is a dystopian novel, set in a world that doesn't seem any different to the one we live in now, apart from the role of parents. This issue is quite timely considering the recent child abuse cases in the UK and the pro-life debate currently raging in the USA.

Firstly I'm not a mother, I don't have a maternal bone in my body but this novel made me angry, sad and frustrated. The system operating in this book is one that appears to be set up for failure, with constantly shifting goalposts and no tangible criteria for success. Anyone enrolling on the rehabilitation course has to sign a non-disclosure agreement, if they break this NDA they will be added to a Negligent Parent Registry. Once on the registry you cannot be removed and your name will be made available should you want to rent a house, apply for a credit card or move to a new neighbourhood. If you try to leave the course your name will be added to the registry. You will lose your rights to be a parent.

Both mothers and fathers can be held accountable, however mothers seem to be held to a far higher standard than fathers. Alongside this the course is far more generous towards fathers. The fathers have better living conditions, a lower boundary to pass modules and more rewards.

It's difficult to really say much more without giving away spoilers. This is a book to be read with trepidation. Throughout you are willing all of the women to succeed and your heart breaks each time they are knocked down.