Assessment:
Plot/Idea: Bryant’s plot delivers satisfying twists, and she hints at those early on to keep readers invested. The theme carries a deeper, relevant meaning that will resonate with modern audiences.
Prose: The Mother Gene is told through changing perspectives and flashbacks, and, though the flashbacks happen abruptly in places, the author skillfully uses them to hint at coming plot twists.
Originality: This is a thoughtful, multigenerational chronicle of the strength of love and the value of chosen family, told in a compelling and suspenseful way.
Character/Execution: Bryant reveals the dichotomy between her characters in a natural way, showcasing Miriam’s fierce but waning independence against her daughter Olivia’s more trendy autonomy—and, in the end, uses their differences to unite them. The characters are complex and appealing, with intertwined lives that support the plot’s momentum.
Date Submitted: April 04, 2023
The ambitious cross-generational novel addresses compelling social issues such as class, health care, and women’s reproductive rights without taking a heavy-handed approach. Bryant's empathy and understanding shines throughout, a uniting perspective that helps unite some at-times disparate storylines. The Mother Gene employs three points of view—Miriam, Lillian, and Olivia—to good effect as it explores the theme of what it means to be a mother. A multi-timeline novel, the story hops from the present in 2010, back to Miriam’s early career in the 1970s, and then further back to her mother’s life during the Depression and World War II. Early on, these time shifts can feel jarring and too frequent, and what particular flashbacks are intended to illuminate is not always clear.
Bryant rewards reader patience, though, as midway through, when the characters are more fleshed-out, the strands weave together, and the narrative flows with purpose and power. Some readers may guess at aspects of Miriam’s family secret early on, and the revelation itself is somewhat drawn out. But when it finally arrives, the full truth about Lillian and Miriam’s past delivers an emotional punch thanks to Bryant’s perceptive, humane characterization and abiding sense of what matters most.
Takeaway: A gynecologist questions the choices she made in her life in this humane novel of family and secrets.
Great for fans of: Diane Chamberlain, Jodi Picoult
Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
