New Novel – The Other Mother – Is Generating Intense Discussion Among Moms

Inspired by the release of the new motherhood novel "The Other Mother," contributors to the Silicon Valley, Chicago, Washington DC Metro, and New York City Moms Blogs are currently engaging in an intense discussion about balancing work and family.

In many of the comments on the Chicago Moms Blog, moms relate their own lives to the main characters in the novel: Thea (the stay-at-home mom) and Amanda (the working mom). Moms are exploring the question of how we allow and trust other people to care for our children.

Jill Asher writes on the Chicago Moms Blog, “I could totally relate to both Thea and Amanda. At some points in the book, I kept yelling (to myself)... just talk to each other! Get your issues out on the table and you will both feel a lot better. At other parts, I wanted to give them each a big hug and tell them that they were doing a great job as a mom.”

Gwendolen Gross, the author of The Other Mother, comments, “I wrote this novel with one narrator who is a stay-at-home mom and the other a working mom to accomplish something I thought non-fiction couldn't. What I wanted was to be able to stand in shoes of both moms, in hopes of illustrating how we judge each other unnecessarily, and understanding, myself, how important it is to respect other people's methods and choices even if they don't match my own.”

The discussion continues and all blog readers are invited to participate on the Chicago Moms Blog.


The four Moms Blogs are the brainchild of Jill Asher and Pamela Miller Hornik, and they have received national media attention for their coverage of parenting issues in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, San Jose Mercury News, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Sun Times and on ABC News.

Moms Blogs Select The Other Mother For First Online Book Club Meeting

In an event described as "following in the footsteps of our beloved Oprah," contributors from the Silicon Valley Moms Blog, New York City Moms Blog, Chicago Moms Blog, and the Washington DC Metro Moms Blog are reading the new suspenseful motherhood novel The Other Mother by Gwendolen Gross. Starting on Monday, October 29, they begin their first-ever online collective book club meeting to discuss this novel, which has been described by Booklist as "an electrifyingly complex and explosively gripping portrait of contemporary, have-it-all motherhood."

Gross' novel encourages an active dialogue between moms, because it inspires mothers to explore their own choices about balancing work and family, the struggles and joys of parenting, and the constant push and pull of contemporary motherhood. Publisher's Weekly says that The Other Mother "documents the front lines of the Mommy Wars, but its real strength lies is exposing the complex inner battlefields motherhood can open up." National Public Radio calls The Other Mother "a thoughtful, multi-faceted look at what divides and unites mothers."

These four Moms Blogs are inviting all blog readers to "read along if you like and join us for a lively book club discussion." The Moms Blogs are the brainchild of Jill Asher and Pamela Miller Hornik, and they have received national media attention for their coverage of parenting issues in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, San Jose Mercury News, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Sun Times and on ABC News.

The Other Mother has been featured in the New York Daily News, the Toronto Star, Redbook, OK! Magazine, and on National Public Radio, and it is the selection of four national book clubs.

The Mom Gadget Blog says that The Other Mother "captures the truest most vulnerable times any mother has experienced, as one mother struggles with the fact that all her kids will soon be attending school -- while the other struggles with returning to work with a newborn at home ... The characters are so believable and are sure to leave a lasting impression, long after the final page has been turned." The Other Mother by Gwendolen Gross is available at Amazon and in bookstores.