How Black Mothers Say I Love You

Claudette still can’t forgive her mother, Daphne, for leaving. For six years of her childhood, Claudette and her sister Valerie were left with their grandmother while their mother moved from Jamaica to Canada to start a new chapter for her family. But in that time, Daphne remarried and had another daughter. Now Montreal-based Claudette is in her late thirties, visiting her dying mother in Toronto, but that doesn’t stop her anger and abandonment issues from bubbling up. It doesn’t stop Daphne from voicing her opinions on how Claudette lives her life, either. With Daphne, Claudette, and Valerie all under one roof again, each family member is forced to confront their emotions while there’s still time.

Though rooted in buried strife and sadness, How Black Mothers Say I Love You is full of humor, love, and tenderness as it explores the complicated perceptions of immigrant mothers.