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The Girls Who Grew Big
- Author
- Leila Mottley
- Publisher
- Penguin Books Ltd
- Publish Date
- 26 June 2025
- Run Time
- 11 hours 50 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
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What to expect
Brought to you by Penguin.
From the author of the Booker nominated, international bestseller Nightcrawling: a novel about the joys and entanglements of a fierce group of teenage mothers in a Florida beach town.
When Adela Woods tells her parents she’s pregnant, they immediately send her a thousand miles away to stay with her grandmother in Padua Beach. The intention is that she will leave her baby in 'the forgotten Panhandle of Florida'. and resume her suburban life nine months later as though nothing happened. But Adela’s plans are soon washed away by the tide.
First, Adela meets Emory, a new mother determined to defy the expectations of everyone around her, returning to high school with her newborn baby strapped to her chest. Then she meets Simone, ringleader of ‘the Girls,’ a group of young mothers who create a village together in the back of her red truck—dancing, breastfeeding, raising their children and themselves.
The town thinks they’ve lost their way. Really, they are finding it.
But as they look for love, make and break friendships, navigate the miracle of motherhood and the paradox of girlhood, Adela, Emory and Simone also find themselves on an inescapable collision course with one another.
A novel full of heart and life and hope, set against the shifting sands of secrets and betrayals, The Girls Who Grew Big offers an explosive new perspective on what it means to be a young woman, a daughter, and a mother.
© Leila Mottley 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025
Critics Review
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Breathtaking and gut-punching. Mottley’s world truly won’t leave me. I think about it almost every day
Candice Carty-Williams
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Written in big, beautiful prose that expands throughout the novel and leaves the reader full and satisfied … Leila Mottley’s grasp of human nature is unmatched
Candice Carty-Williams
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Mottley is a dazzling writer and this novel opens up the world of young mothers in all its makeshift, sticky, struggling glory. The Girls Who Grew Big is sensuous, gripping, and utterly believable
Emma Donoghue
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This broken world is lucky to have Leila Mottley writing in it ... Mottley is the real deal—a vital voice in the American literary tapestry, giving us a full, empathetic understanding of the parts of life the rest of culture tells us to ignore.
Kaitlyn Greenidge, author of Libertie
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With impeccable and breathtaking prose, Mottley takes us into the treacherous terrain where girlhood and womanhood collide ... The Girls live out loud and are flawed, tender, and absolutely unforgettable. Mottley continues to show us the power and beauty of her pen!
Deesha Philyaw, author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies
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Raw, wild, and achingly beautiful, The Girls Who Grew Big is one of the most spiritually accurate and electric portrayals of motherhood I’ve ever read. Leila Mottley is the real deal
Rufi Thorpe, author of Margo's Got Money Troubles
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A big-hearted story ... Mottley’s refreshing, no-holds-barred approach sees her join the ranks of other Gen-Z novelists who are reinventing how motherhood is portrayed in literature
i paper
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Mottley’s tough, vital lyricism drives a fiercely compassionate novel about survival, hope, and love
Daily Mail
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Striking
The New Yorker
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Blistering, wise, empathetic ... Mottley has brought the physicality and pain and beauty of birth and new motherhood into the light
New York Times Book Review
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Leila Mottley
- Narrator
- Erin Spencer, Khaya Fraites, AhDream Smith
- Duration
- 11 hours 50 minutes
- Release Date
- 26 June 2025
- ISBN
- 9781405980579
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Penguin Books Ltd
- Genre
- Modern and contemporary fiction: literary and general, Narrative theme: social issues / social problems, Narrative theme: love / relationships, Narrative theme: sense of place, Pregnancy, birth and baby care: advice, topics and issues
Synopsis
Brought to you by Penguin.From the author of the Booker nominated, international bestseller Nightcrawling: a novel about the joys and entanglements of a fierce group of teenage mothers in a Florida beach town.When Adela Woods tells her parents she’s pregnant, they immediately send her a thousand miles away to stay with her grandmother in Padua Beach. The intention is that she will leave her baby in 'the forgotten Panhandle of Florida'. and resume her suburban life nine months later as though nothing happened. But Adela’s plans are soon washed away by the tide.First, Adela meets Emory, a new mother determined to defy the expectations of everyone around her, returning to high school with her newborn baby strapped to her chest. Then she meets Simone, ringleader of ‘the Girls,’ a group of young mothers who create a village together in the back of her red truck—dancing, breastfeeding, raising their children and themselves.The town thinks they’ve lost their way. Really, they are finding it.But as they look for love, make and break friendships, navigate the miracle of motherhood and the paradox of girlhood, Adela, Emory and Simone also find themselves on an inescapable collision course with one another.A novel full of heart and life and hope, set against the shifting sands of secrets and betrayals, The Girls Who Grew Big offers an explosive new perspective on what it means to be a young woman, a daughter, and a mother.© Leila Mottley 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025
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