Zibby Mag

By Rebecca Serle

One of my favorite relationships to read about is between a mother and her child. My own novel, One Italian Summer, is a mother/daughter story and the book’s dedication reads: “For my mother, the queen of my heart. Long may she reign.” Whether our moms have been incredible, challenging, or absent, they shape us. Our relationship with them influences all of the relationships in our lives. Here are five fictional mothers from books and movies whom I love. Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms, stepmoms, and mother figures in our lives. We’d be lost without you!

Lorelai Gilmore in Gilmore Girls

Isn’t Lorelai Gilmore pretty much all our moms? I like to say that Gilmore Girls is the soundtrack of my life. The show, and Lorelai, have been there in so many pivotal moments for me—college graduation, first New York apartment, first heartbreak, eighth heartbreak…you get it. With her quick wit and out of the box parenting, Lorelei gave us the permission to march to the beat of our own drum, make mistakes, and learn to make the best of life’s sour situations. She also shows us that there can be beautiful friendship in parenting. Plus, coffee!

Jackie Harrison in Stepmom

Susan Sarandon’s performance in the nostalgic 1998 hit Stepmom definitely calls for an entire tissue box on standby. Jackie Harrison navigates co-parenting her children Ben and Anna with her ex-husband’s newfound—and much younger— love, Isabel, played by Julia Roberts. Jackie’s relationship to her children is a testament to loyalty, and selflessness. The burgeoning relationship between Roberts and Sarandon’s characters is the heart of the movie, though, and teaches us so much about what it means to parent. I honestly can’t write about it without crying.

Bernadette in Where’d You Go, Bernadette?

I love this book! And I love Bernadette! Quick witted, odd, incongruent, Bernadette has no idea how to get along with her contemporaries or the upper-class Seattle soil she finds herself tilling—quite literally. But Bernadette’s relationship with her daughter Bee is epic. Best friends, partners in crime, these two have it all. Then Bernadette disappears leaving her husband—and Bee—wondering what happened to her. The book has so much to say about what it means to be a woman, and a mother, but my favorite moment is when it’s suggestion that Bernadette took her own life and Bee is adamant. She tells her father her mother would never do that, because it would mean never seeing her again.

Molly Weasley from Harry Potter

Molly Weasley became famous in the Harry Potter franchise for her wooly sweaters, magical household, and unconditional love toward her own children—and Harry and Hermione. She even made readers feel embraced! She is fiercely loyal and fights for her family—even against Belllatrix LeStrange. Molly also isn’t afraid to let her true feelings fly. May we never forget the iconic moment she sent her son a howling letter in front of the entire dining hall at Hogwarts. Mrs. Weasley showed us that there is a special magic in motherhood not exclusive to fantastical realms.

Rebecca Serle is an author and television writer who lives in Los Angeles. She is the author of six novels and codeveloped the hit TV adaptation of her YA series Famous in Love. She received her MFA from the New School in NYC. She loves Nancy Meyers films, bathrobes, and giving unsolicited relationship advice.