"Clever and propulsive, The Mother Act is a bold debut novel about a mother who doesn’t want to be a mother, told from the perspective of both mother and daughter Sadie Jones, a famous actor and controversial feminist figure, never wanted to be a mother. No one feels this truth more deeply than Judith (Jude) Jones-Linnen, the daughter she left behind as a child. Jude grew up touring with her father’s Shakespeare company, rehearsing conversation in preparation for her famous mother's sporadic visits. Always at the back of Jude’s mind is The Mother Act, the script written by Sadie that Jude was never meant to see—a scathing depiction of maternal ambivalence that launched Sadie’s career when Jude was only two. Now Jude is twenty-two and a talented actor in her own right, and she and Sadie have fallen out—painfully and publicly. On a January evening in New York, gripped with panic and fighting the urge to bolt, Jude takes her seat at the front of a packed theater. In her dressing room, Sadie prepares to step onstage for the premiere of Mother/Daughter, sequel to The Mother Act—only this time, her show purports to depict Jude’s perspective on their relationship, too. Over the course of this single opening night, as Sadie accounts for her choices and Jude relives her painful past in the countdown to their first meeting since their most recent estrangement, the question hovers: Is it possible to be both a dedicated artist and a dedicated mother, and what are the costs of each? Compelling and insightful, The Mother Act is a dynamic page-turner exploring motherhood, identity, art, and familial obligation."-- Provided by publisher.