The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Huisman, Violaine. The Book of Mother. New York: Scribner, 2021.

The Book of Mother is a fact-based novel by Violaine Huisman. The events of the novel are heavily based on the events of Violaine’s mother, Catherine. The novel spans the course of Catherine’s life, with the chronological beginning being Catherine’s birth in France in 1947. Catherine was raised by her mother and stepfather, as her biological father left when Catherine was very young. Catherine did not receive much formal education, as most of her focus went to studying ballet. She unfortunately could not become a professional ballet dancer, as one of her legs was slightly shorter than the other. When Catherine was a teenager, she reestablished contact with her biological father. When she went to visit him, he raped her.

In her late teens, Catherine married a young man named Paul. Catherine and Paul both committed numerous marital infidelities. When Catherine became pregnant, she acquired an abortion. Because abortions were outlawed, she had to acquire one from an unlicensed practitioner—her biological father. She nearly died from the procedure. Catherine eventually fell in love with a man named Antoine, who was an educated and successful business executive. Catherine divorced Paul and married Antoine. Antoine’s children and ex-wives disliked Catherine. Catherine had to children by Antoine: Elsa and Violaine. A woman named Claude became a shared sexual partner of Antoine and Catherine. This arrangement caused tensions when Claude fell in love with Catherine and tried to persuade her to leave Antoine.

Catherine eventually divorced Antoine, due largely to his numerous marital infidelities. Claude died of cancer. Catherine married another man, but she soon divorced him after discovering that he was having an affair. Catherine moved to an apartment in Paris and raised her two daughters on her own. She suffered from chronic mental health issues and was occasionally hospitalized in psychiatric institutions. Her relationship with her daughters was often volatile, but she tried to be a good parent, and to instill ethics of hard work and independence in her children.

After graduating from college, Violaine moved to New York City. Catherine approved of that decision. At age 60, Catherine died by suicide. Violaine felt a sense of grief, as well as a temporary sense of guilt, as she worried that she should have been more present for her mother. Towards the end of Catherine’s life, Catherine had mostly been living in Dakar, Senegal. She died in Paris, but one of her last wishes was to have her cremated remains spread in Senegal. Violaine and Elsa smuggled Violaine’s ashes into Senegal to fulfill that wish.