A Good Mother

by Lara Bazelon

Overview

"A high-stakes legal thriller packed with intense courtroom drama." -Alafair Burke

A Library Journal Best Debut Novel of Spring and Summer 2021

A gripping debut thriller about two young mothers, one shocking murder and a court case that puts them both on trial.

When a soldier is found stabbed through the heart at a US Army base, there is no doubt that his wife, Luz, is to blame. But was it an act of self-defense? An attempt to save her infant daughter? Or the cold-blooded murder of an innocent man?

Ambitious public defender Abby is determined to win at all costs. As a new mother herself, she wants to keep Luz out of prison and with her daughter. But when the surprises stack up and shocking new evidence emerges, Abby realizes the task proves far more difficult than she suspected and will require a terrible sacrifice.

As the trial hurtles toward an outcome no one expects, Abby, Luz and a captivated jury are forced to answer the question that will decide everything—what does it mean to be a good mother?

“Lara Bazelon combines a riveting courtroom thriller with a nuanced and thought-provoking examination of gender, race, and justice. Helmed by an intelligent, complex, and flawed protagonist, A Good Mother is a beautifully written debut that kept me turning the pages late into the night.” —Angie Kim, author of Miracle Creek

"Sexy, shrewd, and wholly contemporary, A Good Mother takes pitch-perfect characters, a page-whipping plot, and themes about marriage, lust, betrayal, and the juggling of new motherhood plus a hard-driving career and mixes it all into a deeply perceptive legal thriller that made me drop everything else and just READ." —Cathi Hanauer, New York Times bestselling author of Gone, The Bitch in the House and The Bitch Is Back

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781335916099
Publisher:	Hanover Square Press
Publication date:	05/11/2021
Edition description:	First Time Trade
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	1,023,653
Product dimensions:	7.90(w) x 5.20(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

LARA BAZELON is a professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law, where she holds the Barnett chair in Trial Advocacy. She spent seven years as a deputy federal public defender in Los Angeles.

Editorial Reviews

03/29/2021

Law professor Bazelon debuts with a fast-paced, multilayered legal thriller. In 2006, L.A. attorney Abby Rosenberg, a deputy federal public defender, takes on the high-profile case of 19-year-old Luz Rivera Hollis, who has admitted to stabbing to death her husband, a decorated combat veteran with a history of violence and addiction, at a U.S. Air Force base in Germany. Luz maintains she acted in self-defense to protect herself and her three-day-old daughter. The case will be the first time a trial revolves around a new law that extradites civilians who commit crimes against the military outside the U.S. The trial careens out of control as Abby deals with the manipulative Luz, a cocounsel foisted on her, and a sexist judge. Meanwhile, she risks the relationship with her partner by cutting short her maternity leave. Unlikable but never boring, Abby often skirts the law as her need to win overpowers her ethics and her common sense. This tale of unchecked ambition about one woman’s efforts to balance her professional and personal lives will resonate with many. Agent: Emma Patterson, Brandt & Hochman Literary. (May)

Publishers Weekly

A Good Mother is a high-stakes legal thriller packed with intense courtroom drama, but it’s also a story about the complicated sacrifices and compromises that mothers face. In this impressive debut, Lara Bazelon’s talent for both storytelling and the law are on sharp display.”
—Alafair Burke, New York Times bestselling author of The Better Sister

"Sexy, shrewd, and wholly contemporary, A Good Mother takes pitch-perfect characters, a page-whipping plot, and themes about marriage, lust, betrayal, and the juggling of new motherhood plus a hard-driving career and mixes it all into a deeply perceptive legal thriller that made me drop everything else and just READ. Trial lawyer Abby Rosenberg is a flawed and riveting character you won't soon forget. And Lara Bazelon, herself a prestigious defense attorney, is an author to watch. I loved this book." —Cathi Hanauer, New York Times bestselling author of Gone, The Bitch in the House, and The Bitch is Back


“Lara Bazelon combines a riveting courtroom thriller with a nuanced and thought-provoking examination of gender, race, and justice. Helmed by an intelligent, complex, and flawed protagonist, A Good Mother is a beautifully written debut that kept me turning the pages late into the night.” -Angie Kim, author of Miracle Creek


“Bazelon knows her way around a courtroom and unfolds one surprise after another while deftly exploring motherhood and the often crushing expectations that come with raising a family, not to mention the condescending treatment of women in a largely male workplace… A taut, nail-biting courtroom drama.” -Kirkus Reviews


“Attorney Bazelon's fiction debut is a powerhouse legal thriller, giving Abby a depth and breadth of backstory rare in first novels. Fans of Tana French, Scott Turow, and Lisa Scottoline will gravitate to Bazelon’s tautly paced and richly detailed novel, an exploration of ambition, responsibility, and the sacrifices of motherhood.” -Booklist, starred review

“The courtroom scenes are sharp and suspenseful, the twists in the plot are unexpected, and the tension ratchets up until we are truly eager to find out what happens.” -New York Times Book Review

"A fast-paced, multilayered legal thriller...This tale of unchecked ambition about one woman’s efforts to balance her professional and personal lives will resonate with many." -Publishers Weekly

“A detailed and expert courtroom drama… the legal thrills just keep on coming.” -Toronto Star

From the Publisher

12/01/2020

At a U.S. Army base in Germany, a decorated combat veteran is knifed through the heart by his wife, who may have been acting in self-defense or protecting her infant daughter from abuse. Or maybe she's just a vicious killer. Glad to be back from maternity leave, defense lawyer Abby Rosenberg faces one tough assignment. Bazelon debuts in paperback with a 75,000-copy first printing.

Library Journal

2021-02-10
In journalist and law professor Bazelon’s tense fiction debut, a young woman goes on trial for the stabbing murder of her soldier husband.

Hard-charging Los Angeles federal public defense attorney Abby Rosenberg is due to give birth any time now, but her new case already has her hooked. Nineteen-year-old Luz Rivera Hollis was taken into custody at a U.S. Air Force base in Germany and sent back to LA after supposedly stabbing her husband, Sgt. Travis Hollis, to death. Luz has been charged with first-degree murder, but Abby isn’t quite sure that her client grasps the gravity of the situation; all she cares about is getting to be with her 2-month-old daughter, Cristina. Abby manages to get the judge to set bail and release Luz to her grandmother, and then she's off on maternity leave. Abby’s new baby son is a delight, but she chafes at the monotony of sleepless nights and feedings, and she angers her partner, Nic Mulvaney, by announcing that she wants to go back to work early. She’s not about to hand over control of Luz’s case to Will Ellet, a wet-behind-the-ears former JAG attorney with 19th-century views on womanhood, but she does have to partner with him, and he makes it crystal clear what he thinks of her decision to come back early. As Abby and Will prepare the enigmatic Luz for trial, their personal lives begin to fall apart. Bazelon knows her way around a courtroom and unfolds one surprise after another while deftly exploring motherhood and the often crushing expectations that come with raising a family, not to mention the condescending treatment of women in a largely male workplace. Abby sees herself in Luz, who is willing to do anything to protect her little girl, but was her action self-defense or coldblooded murder?

A taut, nail-biting courtroom drama.

Kirkus Reviews