Description

A mother and son, estranged for many years, reckon at last with the secret that has kept them apart in this highly anticipated novel by one of the most talented American writers of his generation

At forty, Peter, an asylum lawyer in New York City, is overworked and isolated. He spends his days immersed in the struggles of immigrants only to return to an empty apartment and occasional hook-ups with a man who wants more than Peter can give. But when the asylum case of a young gay man pierces Peter’s numbness, the event that he has avoided for twenty years returns to haunt him.

Ann, his mother, who runs a women’s retreat centre she founded after leaving his father, is wounded by the estrangement from Peter but cherishes the world she has built. She long ago banished from her mind the decision that divided her from her son. But as Peter’s case plunges him further into the fraught memory of his first love and the night of violence that changed his life forever, he and his mother must confront the secret that tore them apart.

With unsurpassed emotional depth, Mothers and Sons reveals all that is lost by looking away from the past and the love that might be restored by facing it. In his spellbinding new novel, Adam Haslett demonstrates yet again his mastery of “a rich assortment of literary gifts” (New York Times).

‘Subtle, symphonic and satisfying’ Financial Times

‘An epic family saga that packs an extraordinary emotional punch . . . this book is his best yet’ Observer

Publisher Review

The novel I’ve looked forward to most this coming year: Adam Haslett’s Mothers and Sons . . . I’ve loved his writing since Union Atlantic and this book is his best yet . . . The echoes of the Russian greats in the title aren’t misplaced – this is an epic family saga that packs an extraordinary emotional punch * Guardian, ‘Fiction to look out for in 2025’ * Mothers and Sons is both moving and deeply compelling, a story about the search for our own humanity, and the lengths we will go to maintain it. A new book by Adam Haslett is always cause for celebration. He is one of our very best writers — Ann Patchett Mothers and Sons is like sonar in a lake, pinging out everything submerged, the hidden stories, shames and joys. There’s nothing like it. Haslett’s characters feel so real, their choices so hard, their lives so true. He is everything you want in a writer A family-in-crisis story that keenly captures deep-seated fears and regrets . . . Haslett’s sophisticated grasp of the ways that people over-police their feelings makes it a remarkably acute and effective character study . . . The strength of Haslett’s storytelling is its deliberation, slowly peeling back the veneers of Peter’s and Ann’s professional accomplishments and cool public personas to reveal storms of guilt and fear * Kirkus (starred review) *