A haunting, indelible novel of collective grief, resistance, and the virtue of testimony

A haunting, indelible novel of collective grief, resistance, and the virtue of testimony

A. is an amateur translator. Adrift and burdened by debt following a medical trauma, her nights are spent on the dance floor. There, she encounters N. Among N.'s meagre possessions, A. comes across a book about an unnamed town of disappearing boys. The book, Field Notes, documents a community of mothers who assemble to mourn their missing sons. 

When a near-assault stuns A. out of her inertia, she takes off for the city where Field Notes was written in search of its author and the end of the story. But, A's digging leads her instead to the traces of a murdered poet, and a legacy that will intersect unexpectedly and pivotally with her own life. 

Poignant and profoundly humane, Mass Mothering is a story of the mutuality of grief, the shattering force of a mother's love, and the aftershocks of violence in a globalised era. 

Details

ISBN13: 9781787706439
Format: Paperback / softback
Number of Pages: 256
Edition:
Publication Date: 23 Jun 2026
Publisher: Europa Editions (UK) Ltd
Publication City, Country: London, United Kingdom
Dimensions (cm): 21(H)x13.5(L)
Weight (gm):

Author Biography

Sarah Bruni is the author of The Night Gwen Stacy Died. A graduate of the MFA programme at Washington University in St. Louis with a master's in Latin American studies from Tulane University, she has taught English and writing classes in New York and St. Louis and volunteered as a writer-in-schools in San Francisco and Montevideo, Uruguay. Her fiction has appeared in Boston Review, and her translations have appeared in The Buenos Aires Review. She lives in Chicago with her family.

Reviews

“Mass Mothering is a deft and beautiful novel, a masterwork for Post-Empire American Fiction. In graceful and atmospheric prose, she has created an essential novel for our times.”

* Michael Zapata, author of The Lost Book of Adana Moreau *

“Mass Mothering is a beautiful novel about the importance of really seeing—that is, the pain of bearing witness.”

* Yuri Herrera, author of Season Of The Swamp *

"A fascinating and unique novel about the power of witness... from start to finish Mass Mothering completely dazzled me in its ambition and skill."

* Chicago Review of Books, a Most Anticipated Book of 2026 *

"A profound, deeply imagined novel that both addresses and transcends the chaos of our present moment.”

* Idra Novey, author of Take What You Need *