All My Mother's Lovers by Ilana Masad

She looks back at the photos in her hands, these images of a woman who is Iris but who isn't her mother yet, a woman for whom Maggie is years and years in the future. - Ilana Masad, All My Mother's Lovers

Ever since I read Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid, I’ve been very interested in books about family history and legacy. That’s basically why Ilana Masad’s debut novel - All My Mother’s Lovers is on my radar in the first place. This novel mostly revolves around the protagonist’s road trip as she attempts to hand-deliver the five letters her deceased mother left behind. As Maggie finds out the mysterious recipients of these letters, she starts to question her long-held assumptions of her beloved mother.

First things first, I’d like to get it off my chest that I’m not particularly fond of this novel. To be honest, I feel so bad about not liking it since it has so many elements that I usually gravitate towards. The concept is very original and compelling, but the execution just falls short. My very first issue with this novel is the author’s writing style. Although I’m usually a sucker for detailed writing, Masad’s style appears a bit lacklustre and drawn-out for me. She tends to drag on about the unnecessary minutia such as GPS directions, meals, traffic, random thoughts, etc. Not only do these trivial details contribute absolutely nothing to the advancement of the plot or the development of the characters, but they also weigh down the story a lot. At the end of the day, I guess this novel can do with at least 60 pages less. My second quibble is the cast of characters. I cannot see myself rooting for any of the characters. I’d go as far as saying that I find some of them particularly intolerable (Ariel, Maggie, I’m looking at you). Their thought processes just go beyond me. The main characters (especially Maggie) spend a lot of time having random anger bouts for apparently no obvious reasons (I still cannot understand why Maggie is mad at Ariel every time they talk). The third problem is the last line. Honestly, to say that the closing line is underwhelming would be an understatement. After trudging through the 336 pages of this novel, I hope for some reflections upon family history and legacy at the end. However, I’m stuck with a, dare I say, very informative description of the protagonist’s undergarment.

In a nutshell, although I find this novel quite frustrating, I think it’s still a thought-provoking story about a young person trying to come to terms with her mother’s true identities. Maybe, after all, it takes growing up and dealing with the crippling fears of adulting to finally realize that our parents are humans just like us - flawed and vulnerable.