Picking The Best (and Worst) Mom in Literature for Mother’s Day Weekend
It’s really no contest
It’s Mother’s Day weekend in the United States, and a very happy Mother’s Day to all the moms reading this. For the auspicious day tomorrow when we honor the women who gave us life, I am choosing the best and worst mothers in literature, but before getting to that, here’s a fun fact. The National Retail Federation reports that we will spend $25 billion on mom, compared to $16 billion on dad come Father’s Day; this makes it the only time women are actually paid more than men. Maybe a better gift for mom this year would be fixing that particular problem.
While researching this piece (yes, I occasionally do research), I was surprised to find something I had not recognized before: I don’t read many books where the mother is a main character. My two favorite authors, Ernest Hemingway and Carlos Ruiz Zafon, rarely mention moms in their novels. I’m sure this goes beyond just my own reading; consider how many books you’ve read where the mother is either totally absent or dies when the main character is very young.
This could be an intentional choice on the part of authors to add dramatic tension, or maybe they’re just not that good at writing about mothers. Perhaps, and this is certainly possible, some authors are working out issues from their childhood right on the page. Whatever the reasons, for this Mother’s Day weekend I give you my Best and Worst Fictional Moms; let’s see if you agree with my picks (and be aware that there are some significant spoilers here).
For me, picking the best mom in literature was a no-brainer; I thought of the character before I came up with the idea to write about her. Hands down, the best mom in fiction is the incomparable Molly Weasley from the Harry Potter series, and I can’t think of anyone else who comes close. Even with seven kids of her own and a wacky husband who is way more into Muggles than any wizard should be, she still finds time to take in wayward strays like Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. She treats Harry and Hermione like they are her own children (right down to hovering over them a bit too much sometimes). And especially for Harry, she provides the loving, nurturing mother he sorely lacked for his first eleven years.
