Motherland

Funny, smart, and packed full of all the melancholy you would expect from a novel that slowly sheds a child’s innocence - Red

There’s a great deal of humour in Motherland, all underpinned with a sober tone … Jess makes an engaging narrator - alifeinbooks

In its warm and witty portrait of offbeat mother-daughter relations, Motherland often recalls Nina Stibbe’s Man At The Helm. Jess’s gift for wry observations also gives rise to some wonderfully quotable lines - Lady

Motherland cuts a swathe through history without feeling like a lesson … Even though Motherland is full of historical detail, between 1980s Tamworth and the GDR, the oppression of the era never overwhelms. At the heart, and most important are the human relationships and which bonds survive - Emerald Street

I’m sure that these are characters (and the voice of a new novelist) that I for one will gladly revisit over and over again … A beautiful story tinged with fun, sadness and insight - Bookbag

A delightful tragi-comic novel, primarily about a mother/daughter relationship (hence the title) and also about coming of age and disillusionment … Motherland combines a teenager’s cold-eyed view of adult absurdities and a wistfulness for lost certainties; a compelling blend - Historical Novel Review

A funny and poignant first novel - Daily Mail

This assured debut from Jo McMillan was a delight from start to finish; I was immediately drawn into the lives of the main characters and was sorry to get to the end. McMillan is now based in Berlin and she writes convincingly of both sides of the Cold War, she has a very distinct voice and will be a writer to watch in the future - We Love This Book