Motherless Brooklyn Novels & Stories

A jagged, brutal scar ran from his temple down to his jaw—a white, puckered ravine of ruined flesh that marred the perfection I had memorized in the portraits. "G-giddeon..." The name was a sacrilege, a sob caught in my throat. "Giddeon Hudson. You’re... you’re supposed to be dead. The crash... the funeral... I stood at your memorial." He let out a short, dry scoff that sounded like grinding stones. "Giddeon Hudson died in that fire, betrayed by the very blood that was supposed to protect him," he said, the scar on his face twitching. "Maxwell Romanov is the man who crawled out of the wreckage. Giddeon was a fool who loved a faithless wife and a greedy son. Maxwell is the man who waited year

Everyone knows me as a gentle and calm wife. On our wedding night, my husband, Julian Chapman, sleeps with another woman. I tell myself that it's part of being married and that I should be understanding. He blows through the 30,000 dollars I brought into the marriage. I kept my silence. Then, he brings home one mistress after another. I pour them drinks myself. When his gambling debts finally catch up with him, he sells me to a brothel without a second thought. "This is my wife. She's quiet, obedient, and easy to deal with. Take her instead. Do whatever you want with her." I laugh. He has no idea that I had a reputation before I ever married him. They called me the Queen of Hell. I ha

My mother, Sophie Nash, was also my homeroom teacher, and she loved nothing more than using me to assert her authority. She was convinced that the worse off I was, the more afraid my classmates would be, and the higher her authority would be. Once, when I passed an eraser to a classmate during class, she slapped me so hard across the face in front of the whole class that my face swelled up. Another time, after I secretly ate a crumb of a classmate’s snack during recess, my mom dragged me up to the front of the classroom and pricked my lip with a needle until blood gushed out. Later, when a classmate was caught by the vice principal for having a romantic relationship while underaged, my m

My mother, Samantha, believed I was born a liar. Because she was deceived by my father's sweet words in her youth and abandoned after giving birth to me and my sister, Mia, she harbored a deep, bitter hatred for lies. She begged a witch for two magic rings. The rule was simple: if the wearer lied, the ring would glow red and burn them with magic. Mia's ring never hurt her, even when she broke a vase and blamed it on me. But if I simply said, "I'm thirsty," my ring would sear my flesh until I screamed. At first, I tried to defend myself, but Mom would just say, "The ring doesn't lie. Only through repeated punishment can your wicked soul be cleansed." After thousands of burns, even I started t

MISS CATERINA POV : ONE YEAR LATER. It has been a tough year for Serafina. I have watched her grief over her mother's death every single day. She's been really sad and there is nothing I could do to cheer up. She even refused to celebrate her birthday, or any celebrations. I have tried my possible best to put a smile on her face, she needs someone who will love her, I hope a loving family adopts her soon, I don't want her to spend the rest of her life being sad, she's too young to be going through this pain. I sighed after much thinking. "I should check on the kids", I thought to myself.

When Momma’s voice was shaky, answering my mind link I jumped up and wanted to shift and run home. My baby sister Brooklyn isn’t at home, and they can’t find her, she was there at dinner, and they were out in the garden playing, but when Momma called them to come in, she was missing. Brooklyn is only 6 and she is the only one of us that had a bad birth, Momma’s umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck, and she died, they brought her back but she’s weak and frail and prone to getting sick, colds and such. The terror in Momma’s voice made my skin crawl and I’m driving as fast as this Jeep will go, without killing us. Gabe and I both scan cars as we drive bye, just in case the most horrif

She refused to eat her meals and cursed her anytime she saw her. "Barren woman," Mama shouted and hissed anytime Sarah passed her. "You want to turn my son against me. It will not be well with you." "Give my son a child, make me a grandmother," Mama shouted, clapping her hands as she spoke. "You have killed your parents and now you want to kill me." Sarah cried privately, never allowing her husband or mama to see her tears. When she brought mama's food to her she pushed the platter away causing the food to spill on the floor.

He helped Mary into the car like she'd break. Then got in—didn't even look back. I limped inside. Only then did Mary glance at me. Something sharp flashed in her eyes. "Stella, I'm sorry. It's my fault. But Jack said if you're gonna be a mom, you can't be so sensitive. You need to toughen up. How else are you gonna take care of the baby?" Something inside me went cold. My baby's gone.

"No, I don't…" When she lifted her head again and met his eyes, he let out a piercing scream. How could he not, when what he saw was the face of his mother? The same mother who'd been dead for over a decade.

When she caught the flu and couldn't find the medicine at home, I dragged myself through my own fever just to bring it to her doorstep. And yet, she burned through the money I bled for. Worse, she funneled it behind my back, time and again, into the startup of her childhood sweetheart, Brad McCoy. After hearing what Olivia had offhandedly said, Mom emptied her savings just so she wouldn't feel shortchanged and could have the grand wedding she deserved. But on the day we were supposed to register our marriage, Olivia answered Brad's call and left us stranded on a deserted road. I tried to grab her wrist. "We haven't signed the papers yet…"