By: Lynne Bryant
ISBN: 978-1639886838
Atmosphere Press, 2023
2023 Sarton Winner: Contemporary Fiction
Dr. Miriam Stewart works tirelessly to help Appalachian women gain control over their bodies-to make a deliberate decision whether to be a mother. Bone-weary, but with a nagging fear of the obsolescence of retirement, Miriam is sandwiched between two frustratingly independent women; neither will listen to her advice. Her aging mother, Lillian, a locally beloved, retired mountain midwife, refuses to leave her farmhouse nestled deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Olivia, her thirty-year-old daughter, searches for the perfect sperm donor for the baby she's determined to have.
When a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity promises her work legacy will continue, Miriam's passion is renewed. But her carefully ordered world explodes when the fulfillment of her dream collides with her mother's long-kept secrets. Secrets that undermine the very foundation of Miriam's beliefs about who she is, her career, and especially, what it means to mother. Miriam is faced with an impossible choice.
In The Mother Gene, Lynne Bryant casts a contemporary story of mothers and daughters against the backdrop of a not-so-distant dark time in American history, when powerful forces sought to control who should have children. Three generations of women struggle with the intertwined choices of sex, love, pregnancy, and motherhood.
About the Author
I grew up in the heart of the deep South—rural Mississippi. After completing a nursing degree from Mississippi University for Women, I worked in mental health and public health. I returned to school to earn a master’s degree from Ole Miss and began a career in nursing education. Growing up in Mississippi deeply rooted me in family and community. But there came a time when that community no longer fit and I made the decision to leave. Always craving learning, I continued my education and earned a PhD from the University of Colorado.
Leaving the South opened my mind and heart to the world beyond my narrow upbringing. And once I began to see the world with new eyes, I couldn’t unsee. Trying to make sense of the parts of my identity forged in the South inspired me to write fiction.
When I’m writing the historical part of my novels, the academic side of me loves the research—sometimes I’m amazed, sometimes I’m appalled. The creative side of me is inspired to share what I’ve learned in the what ifs of my fictional characters’ lives. Women’s voices, especially, pull me in, haunt my dreams, and refuse to let me go until their stories are told. I treasure writing about women who overcome; women whose voices drown out the silencers.
My wife and I live in the lovely little mountain town of Manitou Springs, Colorado, along with our three pups. Our three children and one granddaughter are scattered about the country. I write novels, teach nursing, and continue to be inspired by the generative power of women.
To learn more about Lynne Bryant and her work, please see www.lynnebryant.com
