Barack Obama called Jessamine Chan’s The School for Good Mothers one of his favorite reads of 2022. The NYT bestseller comes out in paperback on February 7.

Every year, thousands of children are removed from their parents’ custody by the state, often for good reasons, but not always. Set in a dystopian future not so far from now, The School for Good Mothers follows Frieda’s tortured journey after losing her daughter following “a very bad day.” Chan calls the book “1984 for mothers.”

Jessamine joins Marrie Stone to talk about the 20 years she spent writing before the book was published, and how one inspiring day of writing changed everything (spoiler alert: don’t try this at home). She talks about writing in longhand, over-writing and learning to cut, how visiting her setting changed the feel of the book, naming her characters and other craft insights. She also discusses MFAs and writing residencies, finding an agent, the long editing process after the book was sold and more.

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(Recorded on January 25, 2023) 

Host: Barbara DeMarco-Barrett
Co-Host: Marrie Stone
Music and sound design: Travis Barrett