50 pages • 1 hour read
Sally HepworthThe Mother-in-Law
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2019A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Complexities of Motherhood
Often considered a thankless endeavor, motherhood typically calls for selfless sacrifice that leaves the mother abandoning her independence to live vicariously through the lives of her adored children. Through her portrayal of Diana, Lucy and Nettie, Hepworth examines the complexities of motherhood. She presents a stark examination of motherhood and offers a new definition built on communication and respect.
Diana finds herself thrust into motherhood at the age of 20. Exiled from her family for her choice to keep her child, Diana faces the bleak frontier of new motherhood alone. She finds guidance in the form of her divorced cousin Meredith who sternly pushes Diana to forge a new path for herself built on self-reliance. These experiences shape Diana’s future as a mother who refuses to allow her children to depend on her for emotional or financial support. Through Diana, Hepworth confronts the harsh realities of motherhood as Diana remarks on how “being a mother is impossible” (183) when faced with the unrelenting anxiety that accompanies it. Diana also notes the dehumanization of mothers whose children “will only see things from their own perspectives” (297). Emotionally detached and secretive, Diana struggles to connect with her children, especially her daughter Nettie. Through her relationship with Lucy, Diana learns to be seen “as a woman” (297) and not just as a mother. Ultimately, Diana’s inability to escape her role as mother ultimately results in her tragic death at the hands of Nettie. Diana attempts to redefine her strained relationship with Nettie by confiding in her about her suicidal thoughts. However, Diana’s attempts prove futile as, consumed by her hatred of her mother, a crazed Nettie exacts revenge on Diana by suffocating her to death. Through the examples of Diana and Nettie, Hepworth presents the darkest parts of motherhood, where a mother’s sacrifice results in misguided revenge.
Through the example of Lucy, Hepworth offers a more hopeful portrayal of motherhood. Unlike Diana, Lucy pursues motherhood fervently as she attempts to create her blissful childhood before her mother’s death. Even as she becomes a mother, Lucy strives to find a mother of her own and craves “a maternal figure, someone to lean on” (64). Her relationship with Diana begins to follow the same trajectory as Diana’s relationship with Nettie. Frustrated at Diana’s seeming lack of empathy, Lucy even acts violently toward Diana when she pushes her in the hospital. Only when Diana allows herself to be vulnerable with Lucy does their relationship begin to mend. As Diana shares more of herself, the women grow closer. Finally, shortly before Diana’s tragic death, Lucy and Diana confess their love for one another and embrace. In this moment, Lucy finally discovers the maternal figure she has longed for throughout her life. Unlike Nettie, Lucy comes to respect Diana’s independence and communicates openly with her, which allows Lucy to mature and find herself. She adopts Diana’s mission to help refugee populations and learns the true power of self-discovery. Hepworth offers two outcomes to Diana’s legacy. The difference between death and rebirth lies in true human connection, communication, and respect.
The Power of Support
The need for support calls upon one to recognize one’s weaknesses and acknowledge the power of community. Stubbornly independent, Diana struggles to forge meaningful human connections even with her children as she preaches the pitfalls of dependence and praises the strength of self-reliance. After the death of her husband, Diana faces the reality of her loss and contemplates taking her own life to end her misery. Only when Diana allows herself to be supported by her daughter-in-law Lucy can she break free from her depression and choose life. By exploring Diana’s journey, Hepworth comments on the strength and peace found in a supportive community.
Throughout the novel, Diana undergoes a transformation that teaches her the power found through support. She begins the novel critical of reliance on others. This criticism causes conflict with her children and her daughter-in-law Lucy, who supports Diana’s son Ollie’s career by abandoning her own. Lucy follows in the footsteps of her deceased mother, who supported her father “without question” (17). Witnessing Lucy’s devotion firsthand, Diana grows frustrated at Lucy’s dependence on Ollie and expresses a desire to “grab her by the shoulders and give her a good shake” (130). Their opposing views lead to intense conflict and even violence. With her children, Diana refuses to offer financial support and pushes her children to support themselves in the name of teaching them perseverance and building character.
Only when Diana loses Tom to a nervous system disease does she realize the impact of his support in her life. Unmoored from his love, Diana grapples with a desire to end her life. As she begins a mission to commit voluntary euthanasia, she slowly begins to rely on Lucy, who offers her unrelenting support in her grief. Slowly, Diana gains strength through her connection to Lucy and recalls Tom telling her, “It’s about support” (310). Tom’s words and Lucy’s love inspire Diana to abandon her plans for suicide and recommit herself to supporting her family. In Diana’s final act, she attempts to save her son Ollie from financial ruin by offering to work with him as a silent partner in a new business venture. She confronts her daughter Nettie’s deteriorating mental health and promises to “help support you if you decide to leave Patrick, and I’ll help support you if you decide to stay with him” (322). Unfortunately, Diana’s new approach to life comes too late as Nettie’s weakened mental state leads her to coldly murder her mother. Despite the outcome of Diana’s journey, Hepworth relays the message that hope is found through supportive connections with others. Even after Diana’s death, her connection to Lucy lives on.
The Hard Work of Self-Discovery
Through her relationship with Diana, Lucy begins a journey of self-discovery that allows her to embrace her independence and repair her relationship with Ollie. Though initially resistant to Diana’s influence, Lucy redefines motherhood to allow herself the freedom to explore her self-discovery. By the novel’s conclusion, Lucy fulfills Diana’s legacy of hard work and perseverance to emerge as a more evolved self.
Shaped by the loss of her mother at 13 years old, Lucy pursues her dream of motherhood with Ollie. She embraces life as a stay-at-home mother and does not think twice about abandoning her successful career as a recruiter. Throughout the novel, Lucy reminds herself of her mother’s selfless spirit and attempts to embody that by supporting Ollie’s business ventures blindly. She struggles to follow in her mother’s footsteps as she “finds it difficult to keep my opinions to myself,” unlike her mother, “who was happy to silently support my father in everything he did” (135). As the years pass on, Lucy grows more passive. Despite her doubts, Lucy ignores the signs of Ollie’s failing business and waits for Ollie to expose the truth.
Diana’s death and the resulting investigation force Lucy to confront the truth. At Diana’s funeral, she begins to ask herself, “What am I doing with myself? I’d been so determined to be a stay-at-home mum, so keen to do as my own mother did, that I’d never questioned it. Now, suddenly, I was questioning it” (218). Inspired by Diana’s example, Lucy realizes the need to redefine herself. Hepworth unveils the new version of Lucy in the novel's last chapter, which jumps forward in time. Ten years later, Lucy works alongside her husband Ollie in their own recruitment agency as equal partners. Although she is still a mother, Lucy ends the novel no longer defined only by her role as a mother. She lives a life independent of this role that strives to fulfill Diana’s mission to help those in need. Hepworth symbolizes Diana’s influence over Lucy’s transformation in the framed letter written by Diana that Lucy considers “one of my most cherished possessions” (340). In the final moments of the novel, Lucy glances up at the letter and reflects on the lesson of hard work and perseverance Diana imparted to them. In the novel's last line, she proclaims, “But now, we’ve learned them” (340). Through Lucy, Hepworth reveals a journey of self-discovery that defies the binds of the past and offers an empowered future.
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