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Original poster

Who is your favourite literary mother?

120 replies

MissHoneyPenny · 19/07/2025 21:18

Your favourite mother/mother figure from literature.

I think my top choices would be Marmee from Little Women, Miss Honey from Matilda (hence username) and Ma Joad from The Grapes of Wrath.

OP posts:
AdaColeman · 19/07/2025 22:43

Mrs Walker from Swallows and Amazons.

Marilla Cuthbert from Anne of Green Gables.

And of course Mrs Bennet!

SheilaFentiman · 19/07/2025 22:38

Purplecatshopaholic · 19/07/2025 22:03

For a dark, perhaps less obvious choice, Eva from We Need to Talk about Kevin. Compelling, fascinating..

Really interesting pick - yes, compelling!

SheilaFentiman · 19/07/2025 22:37

Seconding the Dowager Duchess of Denver!

JudgeBread · 19/07/2025 22:36

Molly Weasley for being the most accurate representation of my own mother I've ever seen.

Mrs. Bennet for pure comedic value.

EssentialDecluttering · 19/07/2025 22:33

Ma from Little House on the Prairie. So calm, wise and capable.

spartanrunnergirl · 19/07/2025 22:32

ObtuseMoose · 19/07/2025 21:56

Pauline Mole, an absolute legend.

I am re-reading AM diary at the moment and it is fantastic and so funny.

SpikeWithoutASoul · 19/07/2025 22:32

Strawberryvodka · 19/07/2025 22:19

Mrs Quimby in the Ramona stories.

A million times this!

Wafflefinder · 19/07/2025 22:31

Beaten to it, but was also going to say Ma Joad and Helen Graham.

Martha’s mother in The Secret Garden

ClunkyPigeon · 19/07/2025 22:30

Moominmamma ❤️

MrsCratchitstwiceturneddress · 19/07/2025 22:28

Oh, and Mrs Cratchit obviously, too! Brave in her ribbons and forthright in her scorn for Scrooge. Top mum stuff there!

HappyNewTaxYear · 19/07/2025 22:28

Mrs Frisby - ok she’s a field mouse, but what a fine mother she is.

MrsCratchitstwiceturneddress · 19/07/2025 22:27

As I’ve got older, my sympathy for Mrs Bennet has increased greatly. When I was in my twenties, I thought she was ridiculous; now I’m in my fifties, going through menopause; been through a divorce from a man who really didn’t give a damn about me and couldn’t be arsed to hide his contempt; 3 DCs late teens/early twenties and no chance any time soon of buying a house, paying off student loan or gaining any financial security for the foreseeable thanks to the economy, I can really sympathise with her poor nerves. Pretty sure I’d be in a similar state without the miracle of HRT!

Strawberryvodka · 19/07/2025 22:19

Mrs Quimby in the Ramona stories.

CrossPurposes · 19/07/2025 22:08

Helen Graham from The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Purplecatshopaholic · 19/07/2025 22:03

For a dark, perhaps less obvious choice, Eva from We Need to Talk about Kevin. Compelling, fascinating..

PermanentTemporary · 19/07/2025 21:59

Sadie Alconleigh in The Pursuit of Love. I loved that book and enjoyed reading about an interesting and unusual mother rather than a plaster saint or perfect woman.

HonoriaBulstrode · 19/07/2025 21:57

The Dowager Duchess of Denver
The mother in The Railway Children. It's only towards the end you realise what she has been dealing with, while keeping a brave face for her children.

(am sure I will think of others)

Will anyone put in a vote for Joey Maynard? 😁

ObtuseMoose · 19/07/2025 21:56

Pauline Mole, an absolute legend.

TheodoraCrumpet · 19/07/2025 21:49

I'm fond of another Mrs Brown, the one who's mother to Just William. Such faith in her youngest son, in the face of all evidence.

CautiousOptimist · 19/07/2025 21:46

Mrs Weasley is up there for me, and Mrs Brown from Paddington although influenced by the fantastic film versions of both!