???? UNDER THE LAMPLIGHT-

Mom shaming at the hands of the state unfolds in Jessamine Chan’s debut novel, The School for Good Mothers. The novel illustrates a not-so-farfetched world in which the state had a Big Brother-ish institution that measures mothers’ devotion to their children. The story follows Frida Liu, a 39-year-old Chinese-American writer and single mother. Liu’s 18-month-old daughter, Harriet, is taken away from her after a series of bad decisions and sleep deprivation lead to her leaving Harriet home alone for a couple of hours unattended. Liu is placed under home surveillance but when she fails to demonstrate to a judge during her supervised visits with Harriet that she’s learned her lesson, she’s sentenced to five years at a new facility. At the facility — which is part school, part prison — Liu has to demonstrate that her maternal skills and instincts have improved by caring for a robot girl the same age as her daughter. If she fails, her parental rights will be terminated.