What are the best short stories about the theme of motherhood? And who are the best mother characters in short fiction? Below, we select and introduce some of the most famous, and most widely studied, short stories which deal with the subject of mothers and motherhood.
These stories range from female-authored to male-authored works, from stories about young mothers to stories about daughters’ attitudes to their mothers; there is even a story about a woman who never knew what it was to become a mother until she has to look after a neighbour’s children for a short time.