Book Title: THE GOOD MOTHER TEST
Character: Emily Meredith Logan
Tell us about your childhood, Emily.
I grew up in a modest home in Burbank, maybe in the top ten percent of truly carefree children (not without some hang ups, but nothing serious). My parents and teachers said I was multi-talented and I made friends at my own slow pace. Burbank is arguably the crown jewel of the two-million strong urban/suburban sprawl called San Fernando Valley (thanks to Tom Petty, aka “The Valley”). Crown Jewel because both Warner Brothers and Disney Studios are located here. So are lots of middle-class homes with mortgages. I grew up an only child on a sweet residential street where Mom stayed home, and Dad taught at a community college. When I was 18, in the mortgage crisis of 2007, my father lost his job and the bank foreclosed on our house. Our serenity turned into what I call a phase of chaotic readjustment. For my senior year, we ended up living in public housing in Reseda, not far from Burbank but a world apart.
What does a family go through, having to start over?
We were suddenly anxious about money and the future. Like my dad, I was bitter about how the bank treated us. He was too demoralized to find decent work, but Mom got a job. My new school, which was brainiac central, filled with competitive, ambitious kids, mostly Hispanic. In Burbank, my school was predominantly white and not that competitive. My AP courses at Reseda were more challenging, as was making friends. I’m not a groupie. I began hanging with a girl, Salina, the oldest in a large Mexican family. We had little in common on the surface, but our friendship grew steadily and has lasted to this day. I worked hard at my new school and thought I had a strong enough GPA and SATs to get a scholarship to an Ivy. That had always been my dream. I got nice rejection letters and ended up at UCLA. Tens of thousands of students swarmed like locusts around trendy Westwood.
Besides your friendship with Salina, who else came into your life?
At UCLA I hooked up with a grad student from India. Because of our different backgrounds, the romance felt exotic and mercurial. We joked we were both the type that was attracted to strays. Still, I got very attached to him, and when he moved to London, I gave up on serious relationships. I focused on coding and information systems courses, with a minor in finance, dreaming of a future with Google or Apple where I would have a big salary, stock options, and could afford a Porsche. Half the graduating class had the same aspiration. Job interviews were super competitive. While I got nibbles, nothing jelled for me. I ended up at a large PR firm in downtown L.A. My boss, Doug, was good looking, well-liked, and a charming pleaser who took on too many clients. He was grateful when I bailed him out of jams. He was coming out of a divorce and next thing I knew I was living with him in an expensive home in Brentwood. He was generous with his money. To feel financially secure was a huge relief to me. When I got pregnant, unintentionally, I was back in my anxiety sphere. What did I know about being a mother? How was I going to pursue a career while raising a child?
Then what?
Doug was thrilled with having a baby. He’d been through two marriages and neither of his partners wanted children. My pregnancy went smoothly, and when our daughter, Violet, was born, Doug and my parents were at the hospital to celebrate. Doug hired a nanny in the beginning, but after a while I wanted to be alone with Violet. I wanted to be the one to make a difference in her life. It was a control thing, I came to realize with time. Doug eventually decided I was more devoted to Violet than to him and he bailed. While he put his career first, he enjoyed his custody of Violet two weekends a month and paid generous child support. The more time I spent with Violet, the more inseparable we were as a mother and daughter. When she turned one, it became clear that being a mother was going to be my career, at least for now. I promised myself that whatever challenges came our way, I was not going to let Violet down.
Where did you and Violet move?
To a decent apartment in Santa Monica, not far from Salina, who was graduating from nursing school. She helped me find childcare and I got a nine-to-fine accounting job at a nearby business. Life was good. I don’t think I’d ever been happier.
Did you make new friends?
Besides lunches with my fellow employees, I had Salina, my parents, and Violet for companionship and support. I also became lifelong friends with an older attorney who became my sounding board and spiritual counselor.
Did you make enemies?
I have a smile and personality that keep me out of conflict. I’m basically a chicken when it comes to fighting. But Doug started dating a respected psychotherapist in Los Angeles, Amanda, who came with lots of accolades and a zillion social media followers. I didn’t know eventually I would be dragged into a war with her. After a while, Doug and Amanda asked to have Violet every weekend, not just twice a month. Amanda was willing to pay for the best private schools for Violet. She began commenting that we should be raising “our talented, precocious Violet” together. She and Doug bought her designer clothes, took her to Disneyland, and even took a short vacation abroad. I told Amanda to stop because she was spoiling Violet. But as she adjusted to two very different parenting styles, Violet handled it beautifully. My war with Amanda and Doug eventually morphed into a custody battle. That’s when I learned Violet had her own ideas on how to be raised.
Did all this anxiety take its toll on you?
One hundred percent.
What is your greatest personal failing, in your view?
I was always acquiescing to Amanda. Her goal was to dominate. I was slow to react.
How about your greatest joy?
It ended up that raising Violet really was my career. There were plenty of ups and downs. Violet kept her distance when she was in high school and college, but in the end, when I needed to be rescued from myself, she showed me the way.
What is your most pressing problem at the moment?
I started a book club. Getting consensus on what novel we should delve into next.
THE GOOD MOTHER TEST by Michael French
Not Trying to Heal My Inner Child While Raising One
When Emily, a bright but impulsive UCLA student, gives birth to her daughter Violet, she vows to be the kind of mother she never had: endlessly loving, fiercely protective, and always worthy of her child’s trust. But single motherhood is a test with no right answers. As Violet grows into a gifted and unpredictable child, Emily’s instinct—driven parenting collides with a world obsessed with achievement, social expectations, and expert advice.
When Violet’s father, Doug, reenters her life—now in a relationship with Amanda Hoenig, a respected family therapist unable to have children of her own—an uneasy triangle begins to form. What starts as an amicable co—parenting arrangement turns into a psychological tug—of—war over Violet’s future. Emily’s intuition and Amanda’s professional authority clash, in living rooms, classrooms, and finally courtrooms, as everyone insists they are fighting for the same thing: what is best for the child. Violet has her own opinions about this.
Told in two voices—first Emily’s, then Violet’s as she comes of age—The Good Mother Test is a gripping work of contemporary fiction exploring modern motherhood, ambition, and identity. Fans of Little Fires Everywhere and The School for Good Mothers will be drawn to its emotional depth and moral complexity. It asks who decides what makes a good mother, and what happens when love itself becomes one but not the only part of the test.
Women’s Fiction Psychological [ Terra Nova, On Sale: February 23, 2026, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781948749909 / eISBN: 9781948749923 ]
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About Michael French
Michael R. French graduated from Stanford University, where he studied English and creative writing under Wallace Stegner, and later earned a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University. After serving in the U.S. Army, he married Patricia Goodkind, an educator and entrepreneur, and began a family. French is the author of more than twenty books, including award-winning young adult novels, adult fiction, biographies, and self-help titles. His work has been warmly reviewed in The New York Times and honored with multiple literary prizes. He has also written or co-written several screenplays, including Intersection, which has received awards at more than twenty film festivals. His passions include travel, collecting rare books, and spending time with family and friends. He describes his worst traits as impatience and saying “no” too quickly, and his best as curiosity, risk-taking, and learning from failure.
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