For Mother’s Day, we asked nine of our academic experts to tell us who they think is the worst mother in literature. From serious villains to children’s book baddies, these mothers subvert every maternal instinct.
1. Mummy, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman (2017)
Isolated, broken and wedded to routine, 30-year-old Eleanor avoids mirrors, not due to the physical scars she bears, but because she sees “too much of Mummy’s face there”.
