In the interest of keeping this podcast spoiler free, I won’t tell you too much about Ainslie Hogarth’s newest book, Motherthing, but what I will share is that it’s a feminist horror story, and even sort of a love story.
![](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/d850aaa/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1000x1543+0+0/resize/880x1358!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F64%2Fba%2F21719f9b49ca9f5ce2a89c4b8fff%2Fmotherthing-9780593467022-e48d7.jpeg)
It follows protagonist Abby Lamb immediately following the death of her overbearing, and maybe even a little bit evil mother-in-law Laura. Abby feels like she must act to prevent her depression-prone husband from following in his mother’s path, but her methods of protection are… suspect at best.
I recently spoke with Ainslie Hogarth about the multiple perspectives of motherhood, the efforts women make to protect their families, and why the horror genre shouldn’t be overlooked.
Here’s our conversation.
-
Motherthing by Ainslie Hogarth was published by Vintage.
Thanks for joining us for Marginalia. If you enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a review.
Marginalia was produced at KMUW Wichita.
- Mark Statzer and Torin Andersen - engineers
- Lu Anne Stephens - editor
- Haley Crowson - producer
- Karlee Cooper - marketing coordinator
- Beth Golay - host
Follow Beth Golay on Twitter @BethGolay.