Brit Bennett’s debut novel The Mothers grapples with difficult topics, including suicide and abortion, with an equally delicate authorial hand found in The Vanishing Half. Nadia, a senior in high school, begins seeing Luke, the pastor’s son, as she grieves for her mother, who recently committed suicide. After getting pregnant, she decides to have an abortion the summer before she moves away to college. The characters learn to maneuver life and love in the midst of loss. Bennett also employs a Greek chorus, a collective voice, who self-identifies by the same name as the title—The Mothers. At the beginning of each chapter, the Mothers comment on primarily the female characters’ actions and guide readers through the narrative.