The School for Good Mothers

I guess this is borderline chick-lit, right? It’s all about the anxieties and fears facing parents, but more specifically mothers. It’s told as the story of a middle-aged mom who gets caught leaving her infant child alone for a couple of hours and is subsequently ordered by the courts to go to motherhood training for a year. The school is a dystopian institution where the students must care for nearly-human robotic dolls during all sorts of extreme conditions. I was hoping that the sci-fi premise would pay off in a Twilight Zone style twist but it never does. Everyone seems to accept the robot dolls and then move on. The ending is fine and it serves the broader point but I would suggest Chan spend a few weeks at The School for Corny Genre Writers if she wants to stay in my good graces.