A Beautiful Story of Motherhood in its Many Forms
All They Ask Is Everything
Women's Fiction, Family Life Fiction, Women's Domestic Life Fiction
Lake Union Publishing
August 27, 2024
Ebook, Audiobook, Paperback
331
In this hopeful debut about the silent struggles of motherhood, three very different women want custody of the same two little girls―and learn they have more in common than the children they’re fighting for.
Determined to be a better mother than her own, Hannah has devoted her life to her daughters. She ignores her increasing exhaustion and isolation as a widowed mom―until a disastrous mistake lands the girls in foster care.
Julie is single and lonely and dreams of being a mother. After infertility issues lead her to foster parenting, she falls head over heels for Hannah’s daughters. The more she bonds with these sweet, precocious girls, the more she worries about their previous home life and becomes intent on finding a way to keep them.
Recently forced into retirement, Elaine is devastated by the way her daughter, Hannah, has shut her out. When she discovers her granddaughters are in foster care, she resolves to rescue them from the system: her one chance at a parenting do-over.
Each woman thinks she’s the best possible mother, but none understands the full truth. Old hurts, long-held secrets, and budding new relationships collide as they fight for the girls who could make them a family.
“Motherhood demands pieces of yourself…”
Hadley Leggett’s debut novel, All They Ask Is Everything, is a poignant story of motherhood, grief, and family that moved me to tears. In it, we are introduced to three women who are struggling to meet their own expectations of what it means to be a good mother: Hannah, biological mother of two young girls, Wren and Ivy, who lost her husband to a horrific car accident; Elaine, Hannah’s estranged mother and power attorney who is also a widow; and Julie, the single foster mother who takes the two girls into her home when Hannah’s world falls apart. The story takes place over the course of about a year, after Hannah’s tragic mistake ends up with her children being taken into custody by child protective services. As Hannah struggles to regain custody of her children, the reader is drawn into her journey of finding mental health support, along with the challenges of mending her strained relationship with her mother.
While reading Hannah’s trials (both in and out of the court), I often wondered what a judge would say about my own parenting. Leggett did a fantastic job showing how motherhood is just exhausting, even for the best intentioned of us. I found that I related to Hannah’s (and all three of the women’s, really) doubts and anxieties about making the best choices for your children. We see in this story how the stress of motherhood often collides with a foundation-shaking love for our little ones.
“Hannah could no longer be sure. The more questions the court asked, the more she questioned her own reality. Did she provide nutritious, balanced meals three times a day? Sometimes. Other times, when she got depressed, she provided Twinkies and orange juice. …Not once did they ask about the things that mattered — whether Hannah loved her daughters more than breath itself, whether she’d risk everything to keep them with her. …But with each pointed question, the assistant district attorney stripped away another layer of her self-defense.”
Leggett also writes about experiences of grief and mental health in this story. The mistake that led to the loss of her daughters was largely driven by Hannah’s profound grief over her husband’s death, which also compromised her financial stability. The author highlights the need for parental support systems, and ultimately, the story demonstrates how sharing caregiving responsibilities contributes to stronger, more resilient families. The book highlights the unfortunate reality that many parents endure the strains of caregiving to the brink of crisis before seeking help. Through Hannah’s story, we witness the heartbreaking consequences of lacking that necessary support.
This is a powerful and hopeful debut novel, and I highly recommend it. Like me, you might have yourself a good cry with this story, but you may also walk away with a full heart after such a touching ending that shows the collective strength of mothers.
Celeste is a woman who is unwavering about certain things in life; three of those being books, cats, and cold brew coffee. If she can enjoy all three at the same time, it’s going to be a good day. Her favorite genres are fantasy or sci-fi romance, historical romance, and historical fiction but every few books she likes to mix it up with contemporary fiction, a good psychological thriller, or an inspiring memoir. She has a busy schedule working full-time for an online university but she makes sure to unwind each day with stories, either by reading to her elementary school-aged daughter or tucking herself in bed with her Kindle or the latest book she picked up at a local book store.
