Hilariously funny and heartbreakingly real.
Feature image credit: HarperCollins Australia
Where else would you talk about the condition of your vagina post birth before you even ask someone’s name? Mothers group, that’s where.
Welcome to Hickory Creek Mother’s Group: a salvation for mums with new bubs to come and connect each week at the local community centre, until a case of black mould in an air-condition unit forces them out. After all, it takes a village to raise a child, but what if they threaten to close that village? Not willing to accept defeat, the mothers come up with a bold plan to save their group by raising funds to replace the air conditioner by posing nude for a calendar.
However, this book is much deeper than the calendar. The Calendar Mums follows the lives of Samantha, Rhea and Tahlie, three women who are all very different, but who all share a sense of loneliness and guilt of the secrets they keep.
Author, Lauren K. McKellar takes us on a journey of friendship, wholehearted reflections about motherhood and identity, and female empowerment as she touches on important topics and rarely talked about issues including child loss, dementia, and domestic abuse. She does this in a sensitive manner, and the trigger warning at the start of the book was appreciated.
All characters are well developed and easy to root for. I became invested in their stories and that kept me interested and turning the pages frantically until the very end, where the action and pace pick up and a few twists catch the reader off guard.
The Calendar Mums is a powerfully evocative story that offers just the right mix of laughter and heartbreak and spreads a very powerful message that we don’t always knows what goes on behind the front door, so all we can do is offer kindness and a friendly ear.
Reviewed by Karlie Naulty
The views expressed in this review belong to the author and not Glam Adelaide, its affiliates, or employees.
Distributed by: HarperCollins Australia
Released: March 2025
RRP: $34.99
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