Publishers Weekly
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)
From the Publisher
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
Library Journal
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.
Kirkus Reviews
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.
