Mother's Day in the Empire State: Or, An Answer to the Arraignment of Women

"Ribbons of poetry bump up against cold fact hand drawn images become court exhibits. This book is a battle between logic and emotion life and death Its strangeness will linger." - Dr. Rachel Abramowitz

Drawing inspiration from the original intent of Mother's Day by Anna Jarvis in 1906 as an antiwar holiday, the novel challenges the sentimentalized view of motherhood propagated by modern society. The novel provides a raw unflinching look at the challenges faced by American children today. Set in the fictional town of Allegheny in the New York Empire State, Connie Munda (a mother and veteran military officer turned Child Protection Services officer) investigates two grandmothers accused of child abuse.

Constantia Connie Munda is a multitalented author and illustrator who brings a unique perspective to her writing drawing from her extensive experience in the military.

Clarion Rating 4 out of 5 by Dontaná McPherson-Joseph

Narrated with sardonic humor, this novel contrasts the state’s treatment of women at different socioeconomic levels to make searing points. A government employee is deposed in a child abuse investigation in Munda’s political novel.

“Dear Honorable Family Court and Good Reader,” begins the deposition of Connie, a child protective specialist for New York. It is a call with no response, because this is a recorded deposition taken en route to Connie’s latest assignment, a dual investigation of child abuse complaints. Both are mothers and grandmothers, facing challenges to their autonomy and authority. Neither is aware of the anonymous complaints against them.

Though structured like a deposition, the narrative is winding. The first third of the book lays the foundation for understanding the paternalistic state. The remaining 2/3rds of the book is focused on the women at the center of the complaints. Chapters alternate between them. Also included are black-and-white illustrations, labeled as “People’s Exhibits.”

The book likens the relationship between the state and the citizen to that between a mother and her child. Pop culture references abound, rooted in Appalachian culture and identity. Slow-paced throughout, the narrative rewards patience, moving through dense language paired with humor that’s reliant on wordplay. With biting wit, the novel takes aim at the state’s contradictory views of women and their roles in family and society.

"Part narrative part court case, the hybridity of Mothers Day in the Empire State brings the reader closer to the true experience of family pain than either form could on its own. We watch as the law with its rigid rational understanding of human behavior tries to contain and punish generational trauma, while history both personal and global defies all attempts at control. Ribbons of poetry bump up against cold fact hand drawn images become court exhibits. This book is a battle between logic and emotion life and death Its strangeness will linger."

Review: Dr. Kyle McCord author of Reunion of the Good Weather Suicide Cult
"You have not read a book like Mothers in the Empire State before I guarantee it. A retort to a 1615 pamphlet takes the form of illustrations speeches and winding monologues in the style of texts such as Notes from the Underground. Its a hypnotic blend that will keep you turning the pages."

Review: Geoffrey Gatza editor of BlazeVOX books
"With rough vivid satire, word play, a lucid sense of self-awareness, and an acute awareness of the world, Munda denounces child abuse and confronts the methodology of the family and the questions the reach of patriarchy. This is is an excellent book and I too myself looking to the heavens and exclaiming Amen!"