The Girls Who Grew Big by Leila Mottley

Leila Mottley splashed onto the literary scene in 2022, with her debut novel, Nightcrawling, making the Booker Prize longlist. She wrote it at 17 and was 20 when it was published. I read it on my porch in Miramichi the summer of 2022, and hated it heartily. I did not see why it had gotten onto the Booker longlist, and I loudly proclaimed so to all who asked for my opinion (so two people). But when I saw that Mottley was coming out with a new novel, it’s been a few years, and well, maybe I’ll try again. Surely she’s matured as a writer, and maybe I’m ready now too.

The Girls Who Grew Big, I am pleased to announce, is something I enjoyed much more than Nightcrawling. Mottley’s crafting of characters, distinct voices, and a nuanced plot all lead to a richer story. There’s certainly also the possibility that I just liked this story more, though it wasn’t less sparing of those who prey on young women. But Mottley’s criticism of the circumstances where a teenage girl might find it preferable to get pregnant while being that young are far more complicated than the criticism she delivered in Nightcrawling.

Simone, who gave birth to twins when she was sixteen, developed an unconventional home from the back of her truck, for other girls who had babies as teenagers, giving them a space to be safe, helping them learn how to parent, and refusing to hide from the judging eyes of their town. The group has expanded recently to include Emory, who shares her nine-month-old son with Simone’s brother, Jayden. And newly arrived to town is Adela, who’s been sent to stay with her grandmother while she’s pregnant, to avoid embarrassing her parents and preserve her status as the perfect only daughter and swim champion. Adela’s arrival and subsequent reveal of her own pregnancy complicates things for both Emory and Simone, and Adela will be an unwitting catalyst for change for both Simone and Emory, and even for herself, with all three choosing the lives they might not have otherwise.

Mottley alternates viewpoints between Simone, Emory and Adela to tell their stories, and examine the reasons each girl feels the way they do about parenthood, and what they actually wanted from life. Each viewpoint is well-written and differentiated, while still feeling true to the core of being in their late teens and very early twenties. This was a very solid second book from Mottley – I don’t think it’ll get the same accolades as Nightcrawling, which is a shame, because it is better – and I’m glad I gave her a second chance.

Leila Mottley is the author of the novel Nightcrawling, an Oprah’s Book Club pick and New York Times best seller, and the poetry collection woke up no light. Her sophomore novel, The Girls Who Grew Big, is forthcoming in June 2025. She was also the 2018 Oakland Youth Poet Laureate. She was born and raised in Oakland, where she continues to live.

Publisher: McClelland & Stewart (June 24, 2025)
Paperback: 10″ x 7″ (352 pp)
ISBN: 9780771018008

Alison Manley

Website

Alison Manley has ricocheted between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia for most of her life. Now in Halifax, Nova Scotia, she is the Cataloguing and Metadata Librarian at Saint Mary's University. Her past life includes a long stint as a hospital librarian on the banks of the mighty Miramichi River. She has an honours BA in political science and English from St. Francis Xavier University, and a Master of Library and Information Studies from Dalhousie University. While she's adamant that her love of reading has nothing to do with her work, her ability to consume large amounts of information very quickly sure is helpful. She is often identified by her very red lipstick, and lives with her partner Brett and cat, Toasted Marshmallow.