3 Books, 1 Thread: A Mother’s Determination to Protect Her Child
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How much can a mother do to protect her child—and how does she keep going when it never feels like enough? That’s the thread connecting this trio for my Three Books, One Thread series. A Guardian and a Thief, American Dirt, and The Mighty Red feature mothers facing very different circumstances, each carrying the weight of wanting a better future for her child.
As a mother, I find plenty to connect with in that mix of love, worry, and determination. Even when the lives on the page look very different from my own, the struggle is familiar. Mother’s love drives us beyond our comfort zones. If we sense danger, we will speak up when we are naturally timid. Out of love, we save when we want to spend and listen when we want to rave and rant.
These books take the question of the bounds of mother love one step further. What would you do to save your child? Each book explores extreme circumstances. Mothers are pushed into unimaginable situations to protect not just the one they love, but the flesh of their flesh, their child.
These mothers are not ones to surrender without a fight. The urge to protect is strong.
A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar
In a near-future Kolkata struggling with heat and food shortages, Ma is preparing to leave for America with her young daughter and elderly father. Then a theft threatens their chance to go. What follows pits two families’ desperate needs against each other and raises an uncomfortable question: how far would you go to protect your own? This pairing brings out the fierce, morally complicated side of a parent’s love.
What limits would they cross to protect her child? Would you steal food from others? Would you choose one family member over another? The book raises so many difficult choices, and while this is fiction, parents face these realities in cities today. This book left me feeling challenged and humbled.
I wasn’t immediately captivated by A Guardian and a Thief. The book is a smooth, straightforward read, and though the story takes some exaggerated turns, it begins like a day in the life of any Indian mother. As riots, food shortages, and civil unrest increase, so do suspicion and desperation across the city. These circumstances drive Ma to behaviors she never imagined she’d do the day before.
I found myself captivated by the journey to escape the city and flee to safety.
So many ways to read
American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
Lydia is a bookstore owner in Acapulco whose life is upended by violence. Forced to flee with her young son, Luca, she heads north toward the United States, navigating danger and uncertainty along the way. The mother-son relationship gives this tense survival story its emotional center. Lydia has to keep making brave decisions while frightened and grieving, with her child’s safety depending on what she does next.
American Dirt explores the two ends of human reactions to someone in need. Some characters help Lydia, offering shelter, food, and advice, while others exploit vulnerable travelers on the fringes as they seek a dangerous escape route. Cruelty and generosity are on full display, and both are equally moving.
As they travel, Lydia will protect her child by guarding her son’s innocence. Her trauma is shoved aside to ensure her son has the spirit to face each new adventure as they find safety.
So many ways to read
The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich
In North Dakota’s Red River Valley, a questionable wedding draws together a community tangled in love, worry, and difficult circumstances. Among them is Crystal, who hauls sugar beets and worries about the future her daughter, Kismet, is stepping into. This book brings a different kind of maternal strength to the stack: the work of keeping life going while watching your child make choices you can’t make for her.
Kismet! Oh, to be so young and so self-assured. It is good to be reminded of what this was like. As mothers, it is easy to forget where we once came from. We fight fools’ battles and advocate for our own destruction. Motherhood is not for the faint of heart. Strong mothers are brave and humble, and they know they have to let their kids fail, but they straddle the line, watching for when to swoop in and pick them up again.
The Mighty Red captured this so well in the relationship between Crystal and Kismet. I was frustrated right alongside Crystal, and related to Kismet as well. Endrich gave both character narratives equal weight. That helped carry the tension for the entire book.
A perfect fireside winter read, or a reflective touch of nostalgia for us 80s and 90s kids.
So many ways to read
Stories of Extreme Mothers, or Are They?
In each of these books, I was amazed by each mother’s resilience and powerful determination as she faced circumstances beyond her control. As a mom, I understand the fears we face daily. Will the fever break? Will the test result be reassuring? Can I be enough to meet every need? We face these in our everyday lives. But the mothers in these books face evil, starvation, and the total loss of control over their child.
From this precipice, the stories plunge into action, and I ask as I read: how would I respond to these challenges?
I related to Ma as she answers brightly on the phone, telling her husband all is well as the world around her crumbles. My heart raced with Lydia because she has to think quickly at each turn, using her limited resources to meet their needs and hope for wisdom.
In The Mighty Red, I related to Kismet, so strong-willed, barreling headlong into her own destruction. I think of my own mother, leading, guiding, and forbidding me to destroy myself. Crystal walks this line of mother/friend/confidant with her newborn adult daughter. Their polite and not-so-polite dance is the dance of so many mothers.
Three Books, One Thread: The Motherhood edition
Strong female characters are central to so many popular books right now, but these three books powerfully emphasize motherhood and the urge to protect a child. Do these books remind you of any other mothers, fictional or biographical, you think should be added to the list?
Follow along for more book connections with this series and more.
