Rosefolly, the first mother that popped into my head was Marmee of Little Women. Of course, the book wasn't about her but her presence in the story was strong.

I'm sure there are plenty of other books out there with strong mother characters, but do you notice how often the mother of the family is absent for one reason or another (usually she has died)? I suppose that is to give the children more trouble and conflict.

Tom Sawyer- no mother
Huck Finn- none
The Finch kids- same thing
The children in Peace like a River- mother abandoned them
And on and on.

Let's hear it for some books WITH mothers.

My favorite was "Mama's Bank Account" later made into a popular TV series about 40 years ago "I Remember Mama" and the movie I Remembe Mama. When the TV program was on everything stopped and we watched . I think they were a Norwegian family relocated in San Franscisco based on true life experiences of the Author.

I can't forget MA Ingalls of the Little House Series of books originally for children but loved by all ages

This thread instantly made me think of the mother-daughter relationship between Lucy, the heroine of Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All, and her own formidable mother. On the surface, the book is not "about" Lucy's mother, but her recollections of her complicated, sometimes difficult mother really do create a solid, memorable character.

Of course, on the topic of bad mothers, I can think of the Elizabeth Bennett's ridiculous mother in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Austen biographers tend to speculate about the apparent lack of closeness between Jane and her mother.

Polly had a good mother in Louisa Mae Alcott's Old-Fashioned Girl.

All our suggestions seem to be in older books--dysfunction is the in thing nowadays, evidently. Personally, I had the best mother in the world; I'm sorry about everybody else.

I first thought of the mother, Mrs. Ryan, in The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio. The book was written by her daughter, Teri Ryan who was in the middle of a pack of 10 or so siblings. It is a wonderful true story of a mother who kept her family from the poorhouse through her "contesting" skills--entering jingle contests and the like and winning money and merchandise regularly. The mom had a true gift for wordplay and was the rock of a large family with a rather useless alcoholic father.

minnie - Peggy Wood was a guest professor at my college in the late 60's. She taught a class once a week. She stayed on campus, in my dorm, and ate in the dining hall with the rest of us. A very nice person, she would sit and eat with the students, any empty chair...she's ask if she could sit there. After a couple of weeks, she was just another one of the "regular" people.

I really liked the depiction of the mother in "Railway Children."

To go to the opposite extreme, I recall how controlling and toxic was the mother of Beatrix Potter, which comes out in the biography of the artist.

I seem to remember Anita Rau Badami's "Tamarind Woman" (US title) being one of these mother/daughter tales, recalling the mother's life in India married to husband who works for the railway.

Just yesterday I heard an interview on public radio with Rugh Reichl. She was discussing her new book Not Becoming My Mother: and Other Things She Taught Me Along the Way. It was really a fascinating interview. In short, she said that her mother was bipolar and had the enormous courage to encourage her daughter not to emulate her behavior. Before hearing this interview I had only read her earlier book Tender at the Bone. From that I had a negative opinion of her relationship with her mother. This later book apparently shows a more complex relationship, difficult, but full of love and mutual respect at its foundation. I am surprised to discover that I think I want to read it.

I just popped onto Amazon to read reviews of this book. It is apparently a slim little volume, just a bit over 100 pages. Some of the reviewers felt quite cheated by this. Others disliked the fact that it was quite different from her other books, which they had enjoyed. I mention this so that if anyone here is tempted to get it he or she will not be disappointed because it was not as expected.

I should mention that other reviewers liked it quite a bit. I still intend to read it myself.

Rosefolly

veronicae What a precious memory that is of Peggy Wood. I was in school during those telecasts and they say that except when they brought the show back on TV after canceling those are the only episodes taped
all the others are lost in time. I think it was one of those shows with a perfectly fitted cast .There is a UTube o part of one of the episodes that I have to look up. Thanks for sharing

I just recalled another one I read. If you are interested in children's books that explore the mother/daughter theme, Sharon Creech's "Walk Two Moons" is a good one.