Celebrating Mothers in Literature

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mums out there. I personally think you should appreciate your mum every day of the year. When I think of all the things my own mother has had to put up with over the years I wonder how she hasn’t lost her mind yet. It’s easy to take these remarkable women for granted. We expect them to always be there to cook our dinners, wash our clothes and put up with our bad moods. They deserve a gold medal for not only raising us but for managing to run a house and hold down a job all the same time. They truly are amazing people. Where would we be without them?

One thing I’ve noticed is that a lot of YA books feature very tempestuous relationships between the heroines and their mothers. In some cases the heroine is an orphan and she has no sense of who her mother was. In other cases the mother is distant or doesn’t seem to the heroine to be supporting her. My own experience is vastly different. My mum has always been like a friend to me and while it is true that we don’t always see eye-to-eye, largely we have a very good relationship.

Thinking about these YA mothers made me start to wonder if there are any positive mother figures out there. The answer is yes and for today’s post I want to share with you my favourite mothers from literature.

1. Mrs Lancaster, The Fault in Our Stars

Hazel’s mother has had to endure something no mother should – finding out her child has cancer – and yet somehow she still manages to be positive. Hazel might roll her eyes at her enthusiasm, particularly in the way her mom tries to get her to socialise and make friends, but it’s clear that Mrs Lancaster has one goal and that is to make her daughter happy. She wants to see her live her life as much as she can and while she does worry about her health, she still encourages her to go out and have fun. Mrs Lancaster is very much Team Augustus and she not only approves of Hazel dating him, she is probably more excited about the relationship than her daughter. She is everything a mother should be – loving, concerned and supportive.