As Mother’s Day approaches, it’s important to remember motherhood isn’t easy. These novels show the complexities of one of the most difficult jobs in the world: being a mom.

1. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

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“Four mothers, four daughters, four families whose histories shift with the four winds depending on who’s ‘saying’ the stories. In 1949 four Chinese women, recent immigrants to San Francisco, begin meeting to eat dim sum, play mahjong, and talk. United in shared unspeakable loss and hope, they call themselves the Joy Luck Club.”

2. Nine Months by Paula Bomer

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“Sonia, a young Brooklyn mother shaken by her unexpected (third) pregnancy, abandons her husband and kids and takes off on a cross-country odyssey in search of an identity separate from her family. She does everything a pregnant woman shouldn’t do—engaging in casual sex and smoking weed—as she retraces her past and attempts to reclaim her sidelined career as an artist. Nine Months is a fierce, daring page-turner of a novel—a lacerating response to the culture of mommy blogs, helicopter parents and “parental correctness” as well as an unflinching look at the choices women face when trying to balance art and family.”

3. A Week with Fiona Wonder by Kelly Huddleston

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“Sixteen-year-old Mercy Swimmer wins a magazine contest to spend a week with a movie star, but when her mother’s asthma flairs up, Mercy’s  world turns upside down and she is faced with a situation that will challenge her own capacity for compassion.”

4. Terms of Endearment by Larry McMurtry

“Aurora is the kind of woman who makes the whole world orbit around her, including a string of devoted suitors. Widowed and overprotective of her daughter, Aurora adapts at her own pace until life sends two enormous challenges her way: Emma’s hasty marriage and subsequent battle with cancer.”

5. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

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“Grown-up Meg, tomboyish Jo, timid Beth, and precocious Amy. The four March sisters couldn’t be more different. But with their father away at war, and their mother working to support the family, they have to rely on one another. Whether they’re putting on a play, forming a secret society, or celebrating Christmas, there’s one thing they can’t help wondering: Will Father return home safely?”

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