La escuela de las buenas madres
(Book)

"Frida Liu es una madre soltera propensa a la ansiedad. En Filadelfia, donde vive, la denuncian por dejar a su hija sola durante un breve período de tiempo. El Servicio de Protección Infantil del Estado se llevan a su hija Harriet y pone en vigilancia la casa de Frida. Después de una serie de visitas supervisadas, un juez considera que Frida no es apta como madre, temporalmente. Su única esperanza es seguir compartiendo la custodia de Harriet con su ex y aprobar los exámenes impuestos por el nuevo y preciado programa gubernamental: una escuela situada en un campus universitario abandonado que ha de ayudar durante un año Frida (y a otras malas madres de todo el país) a convertirse de nuevo en madres aptas. Para ello, el Estado ha creado muñecos programados para medir y registrar si las mujeres arrepentidas por su comportamiento sienten una profunda devoción hacia sus hijos. Frida pasará de la obstinada esperanza al dolor en medio de un constante adoctrinamiento, mientras está decidida a reunirse nuevamente con Harriet, para recordarle a su hija el valor de su amor imperfecto, al margen de si el Estado la considera una buena madre o no" --,Provided by publisher..

"Set in near-future America, The School for Good Mothers introduces readers to a government-run reform program where bad mothers are retrained using robot doll children with artificial intelligence. Protagonist Frida Liu, a 39-year-old Chinese-American single mother in Philadelphia, loses custody of her 18-month-old daughter, Harriet, after she leaves Harriet home alone for two hours on one very bad day. To regain custody, Frida must spend a year at a newly-created institution, where she practices parenting with bad mothers from all over the county. There, she learns to love an uncannily life-like toddler girl doll in order to demonstrate her maternal instincts and prove to her family court judge that she deserves a second chance. Frida is an outsider in every way: better educated, more affluent, and the only Asian. The mothers, whose transgressions range from benign to horrific, are under constant surveillance. If they don't pass all the school's tests, their parental rights will be terminated. Inspired by dystopian classics such as 1984, Never Let Me Go, and The Handmaid's Tale, the novel eviscerates the dominant American parenting culture, while highlighting the tragedy of state-sponsored family separation. Is there one right way to mother? Can a bad mother ever be redeemed? With warmth, heart, and dark humor, the novel tells a timeless story of a mother fighting to win back her child, and her struggle to hold onto her integrity while being indoctrinated"--‡cProvided by publisher.

Translated from the English.