A gripping work of contemporary fiction exploring modern motherhood, ambition, and identity…
When Emily, a bright but impulsive UCLA student, gives birth to her daughter Violet, she vows to be the kind of mother she never had: endlessly loving and fiercely protective. But single motherhood is a test with no right answers.
As Violet grows into a gifted and unpredictable child, Emily’s instinct-driven parenting collides with a world obsessed with achievement, social expectations, and expert advice. When Violet’s father, Doug, reenters her life — now in a relationship with Amanda Hoenig, a respected family therapist unable to have children of her own — an uneasy triangle begins to form. What starts as an amicable co-parenting arrangement turns into a psychological tug-of-war over Violet’s future. Emily’s intuition and Amanda’s professional authority clash in living rooms, classrooms, and finally courtrooms, as everyone insists they are fighting for the same thing: what is best for the child. Violet has her own opinions about this.
Told in two voices — first Emily’s, then Violet’s as she comes of age — The Good Mother Test is a gripping work of contemporary fiction exploring modern motherhood, ambition, and identity. Fans of Little Fires Everywhere and The School for Good Mothers will be drawn to its emotional depth and moral complexity.
Read sample here.
The Good Mother Test is available at Amazon.
╰┈➤Book Details
- Genre: Contemporary Women’s Fiction
- Sub-genre: Literary Fiction/Psychological Fiction
- Language:English
- Pages: 315
- Paperback ISBN: 978-1948749909
╰┈➤Here’s What Readers Have To Say!
“…A highly readable, relatable novel about ordinary people interacting, clashing, and blending their lives in however a messy or successful manner they can, and will attract readers interested in the psychological dovetailing of family and relationship-building which all boils down to luck and trust. These elements move full circle to guide characters and readers in an unexpected journey towards new beginnings and hope, making for a hard-hitting, satisfying read.” — Midwest Book Review
╰┈➤Read if you love…
⃝Emotionally Gripping
Thought Provoking
⃝Heartfelt
Page Turner
⃝Psychologically Complex
Book Club Worthy
She glanced at Doug. "Slow down, please."
"Steady as she goes," he said, eyes glued to the traffic flow.
"I don't want to kill our baby."
Doug smiled patiently. "I should have taken you to the hospital half an hour ago, when your water broke. I don't know why you resisted."
"My bad. I wanted to finish watching the last five minutes of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix."
"Seriously? Why take chances?"
"I wasn't ready, Doug. I'm still not."
She didn't have the strength to explain in a hundred words or less to a man she wasn't married to that she wasn't sure about her future, say, beyond the next year or two. She was in flux. Recently, her thoughts had been tossing her into her past, where she had to feel her way out slowly, gingerly, like being in a dark room with sharp objects.
"Ohhhh." Emily's first contraction came with a jolt, body-slammed by a seven- or eight-pound fetus. She and Doug had already chosen the baby's name.
– Excerpted from The Good Mother Test: Not Trying to Heal My Inner Child While Raising One by Michael R. French, Terra Nova Books, 2026. Reprinted with permission.
Michael R. French graduated from Stanford University where he was an English major, focusing on creative writing, and studied under Wallace Stegner. He received a Master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University. He later served in the United States Army before marrying Patricia Goodkind, an educator and entrepreneur, and starting a family.
In addition to publishing twenty-three titles, including award-winning young adult fiction, adult fiction, biographies, and a self-help book, he has written or co-written a half-dozen screenplays. These include indie films Intersection, which has won awards in over thirty-five film festivals, and The Reunion. Both streamed on Amazon.
He has also had a long business career in real estate, living in Santa Fe, New Mexico. His passions include travel, collecting rare books, and hanging with friends and family. French’s work, which includes several best-sellers, has been warmly reviewed in the New York Times.
Visit his website at www.goodmothertest.com.
Connect with him on social media at:
╰┈➤ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mfrenchauthor
╰┈➤ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MichaelRFrenchAuthor/?fref=nf
╰┈➤ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrfrenchbooks/
╰┈➤ Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/245381265-the-good-mother-test
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