Happy Literary Mother’s Day: Celebrating Women in Fiction & Reality

 By Courtney Webb

As we come together in the month of May to celebrate the miracle, joy and trials of motherhood, it’s also seemingly appropriate to commemorate women in all the supportive and challenging roles they play on a daily basis within our lives and throughout our lifetimes. To cherish women, not only as mothers, but also in their roles as wives, sisters, aunts and friends. They are our biggest cheerleaders, the shoulders we cry on and when all is said and done, our ultimate heroes.  For many of us, we never truly realize their impact, sacrifice and supreme love until we have the honor and true test of becoming mothers ourselves.

     In the case of the three women featured below, these remarkable literary stars not only excel within their personal lives but also in a professional capacity as they represent the lives of women in today’s world on the pages of some of the most sought after fiction of the summer.  They and the women in their lives serve as inspiration for the women they write of to some degree and their stories create fiction from reality. Whether their particular tale is light hearted, pleasingly comical or heart wrenching in nature; the talent within their work is undeniably magical. They are the mothers of books that not only entertain but also prove when the last page has been turned to become part of a reader’s heart and soul.

Sarah Pekkanen – The Best of Us

Internationally best selling author Sarah Pekkanen was once one of the best-kept secrets of the book world. However over last few years and with the release of her latest work The Best of Us, it has undoubtedly been proven the secret is out and with it has come massive success. A writer with an uncanny knack for character creation and the capturing of the bonds and strength of female friendship, Pekkanen’s books are ones to be shared and discussed again and again with those women closest to you.  The ladies of her books are the women in our lives, they are strong, they are complex, they are fallible but above all, they are real, which makes her fiction transcend into something so much more than just another story among the many in a passionate reader’s life.

Jodi Picoult – The Storyteller

One of the most beloved female novelists of our modern time Jodi Picoult debuts her most intricate and soul wrenching work to date in The Storyteller. Delving into one of the most horrific periods in history, Picoult demonstrates once again that her talent for engaging and touching readers emotionally comes from a place very few writers have ever or will ever journey. Picoult’s bravery and talent shine as the Holocaust comes to life in a manner that brings to light not only the evil contained within human nature but also the hope. Once again her work makes for reading that is not only essential in nature but philosophical and life altering as well.

Jane Green – Family Pictures

If British author Jane Green were best known for one specific trademark within her writing it would most assuredly be her portrayal of women in everyday life and the roles which that entails. Marriage, motherhood and the reality of being a woman are most often the focuses found within Green’s most cherished works. Family Pictures continues this tradition with its honest, poignant and riveting tale of two women meeting middle age with a shocking twist. Bringing everyday life into an extraordinary circumstance, Green has once again created a novel that will delight her most loyal readers and attract new devotees alike.