Review: The Self-Made Saint

Motherhood at It's Best
Review: The Self-Made Saint

​Emily Mendelsohn
​
Alexandra Addams
Fiction
High Frequency Press, pp. 266
Cost: $19.95​

No one ever claimed that motherhood was easy. It is full of challenges and growth. Mothers are human beings who are still learning like the rest of us. Young children, however, often begin life thinking their parent is an all-knowing being, but parents do not always have all the answers and they are not always perfect.

Alexandra Addams explores a complicated mother-daughter relationship through the perspective of fifty-nine-year-old Judith, mother to Cassandra, in her debut novel The Self-Made Saint. A self-made saint herself, Judith spent most of her daughter's childhood volunteering in Kenya in refugee camps, and now she is reaping the consequences.

After the end of her unhappy marriage and the death of her mother, Judith escapes from London and moves to Adalaide, Australia to be with her daughter, Cassandra. She believes that Cassandra is just as unhappy in her marriage and assumes she wants to get her away from her husband, Andrew. Judith plans to help her daughter, especially with her new baby, Emily. These plans are thrown off when she gets to Adalaide and is greeted by a very angry Cassandra, and a very ill Emily. ​

The book is written in third person limited, following Judith, which gives the reader a clear idea of what is going on in her head. The generational trauma that this book explores shows just how difficult relationships can be between parents and their children, and more specifically, between mothers and their daughters. Judith’s relationship with her own mother, Marigold, was even more strained than that with Cassandra, and her biggest fear was Cassandra turning into what Marigold wanted. It is in this way that Judith believed she was “saving” her daughter, but was only pushing her further away.

In the book, Judith is desperate to help her daughter take care of her new baby. She notices all the signs that indicate a sick baby, but Cassandra will hear none of it. Addams writes, “Cassandra stared at her for a long moment, and Judtih couldn’t quite place her new expression. ‘Okay, we need to go,’ she said. ‘Goodbye, Mum.’ She marched to the silver Subaru parked in front of the cottage” (30).

The scene showcases the hard relationship between Judith and her daughter, and introduces the main conflict of the novel. This small interaction indicates Judith’s maternal need to help and Cassandra’s strong refusal. She denies that she even needs help in the first place. The cold brush-off Cassandra gives is the perfect example of a daughter who doesn’t want to need her mother. It shows frustration and anger towards her mother, though we don’t find out why until much later. ​​

The key to Judith’s growth is her pesky neighbor, Martha, and Martha’s foster son, Billy. Martha and Judith's moment comes towards the end of the book after a heart-to-heart and a little forgiveness: “Judith didn’t recognize herself as she mopped her cheeks and nose. She’d just confessed to a hideous crime and been forgiven by the wronged party” (171).

This is the beginning of Judith’s redemption arc and the start of a beautiful friendship, despite the hurt she inflicted upon Martha earlier in the story. This one act of kindness showed her that good people aren’t just the ones who help the less fortunate, they are also kind and compassionate to those around them. ​

This messy family next door was all Judith needed in order to finally understand that her daughter did not need help in the way she thought. It's what pushed her to open up her locked away feelings and finally break free from the cycle her mother started. ​​

Alexandra Addams’ ability to convey the insecurities that Judith was feeling throughout the whole novel is what makes this such a compelling story. The way she builds these characters’ relationships over time feels so natural and pulls readers into the story. They are strong and real, and allow for people to realize that it is healthy to be vulnerable and ask for help, and sometimes that is exactly what you need to heal. Addams is able to show clear growth in her characters, as well as explore in an effective way, the relationship between mother and daughter. ​​

This beautifully executed story dives deep into the relationships, and Judith's character growth is one of the best I’ve seen in modern books. Addams’ use of imagery and point-of-view give a unique spin on the topics at hand and allow the readers to really get into the head of this character. What’s most unique about it is the character herself. Most media that feature generational trauma are from the perspective of the youngest generation, which in this case would mean Cassandra. Addams' novel uses the middle generation, Judith, instead. We get to see both her feelings about her own mother, and her desperate need to repair things with her daughter. Through these relationships, Addams creates a strong character arc to show the growth and healing a person can go through.