Family Language

In this striking debut, an ambitious academic faces new and unwanted choices when she is confronted with overnight motherhood...

Dr. Mona Melamed is a happily married, purposefully childfree linguist at a top Southern California university. Her days are spent researching and stressing about finally, finally securing tenure. That is, until her brother-in-law and his wife die, leaving their six-year-old son orphaned.

Everyone in Mona's orbit expects her to take the lead in caring for the child, including-to some extent-Mona herself. Motherhood is not something she wanted-it is still not something she wants. And yet, she finds herself negotiating a temporary leave to start looking after the boy. Along the way, as the gender expectations thrust upon Mona intensify, her tenure becomes threatened.

FAMILY LANGUAGE confronts that age old question-Can women really have it all?--and uncovers the misogyny behind it. As Mona tries to balance her new responsibilities as a mother, she has to ask herself how hard is she willing to fight for the career she's earned, and is it fair that she even has to?