THE PLAYGROUP

A penetrating, witty, moving exploration of the lives of three women trying to find themselves in their new roles as mothers. In a story that unfolds with the immediacy and suspense of a novel, Barrett (I Wish Someone Had Told Me, 1990—not reviewed) chronicles her meeting with Angie and Grace and their toddlers at the Tot Lot in a Chicago suburb, and the two's decision to form a playgroup for the shut-in winter. Far from the cozy, safe, primary- colored world stereotypical of mothers at home with young children, the weekly meetings of the three women and their toddlers are filled with their own brand of quiet drama and sometimes overpowering emotions. The women look to each other for support as each struggles to define a unique concept of motherhood for herself: Nina, the author, wants to combine her serious ambition as a journalist with a happy marriage and primary care of her son, Sam. Angie intends to make beautiful quilts, have an egalitarian partnership with her husband, and above all be nothing like her own mother, who went crazy raising kids in the suburbs. Grace wants to be the sort of earth mother who nurses on demand, hand-grinds wholesome baby food, is always there for her child—and if it means postponing her successful career as a theater director, she intends to be content with the sacrifice. All fall short of their ideals- -one, tragically so. And although the women do gain some support from each other, they also find unexpectedly painful conflict as alliances shift among the three of them, as they mirror their children's primal struggles with aggression and possessiveness, as one woman tries to compensate for her marital discontent by cultivating a barely concealed infatuation with another playgroup member's husband. A compelling book that explores the depths of a subject routinely trivialized—if treated at all—in literature.