Defiant, angry, confused seventeen year old Nadia Turner has a lot to contend with.  Her mother recently committed suicide, she is having an affair with the preacher’s son, and she is pregnant with his child, a child she doesn’t want.  What happens to Nadia during her seventeenth year impacts her future for the next decade.

This is a book I couldn’t put down; I finished it in two days.  Bennett’s writing is clean and clear, and her characters, major and minor, are complex and believable.  Although the plot makes this novel sound like a soap opera, believe me, it’s not.  I also like book titles that seem simple but really are not(think Sophie’s Choice).  There are many mothers and potential mothers throughout Bennett’s debut novel with different meanings and connotations.  The Mothers is a great read!!