About the Author

JEN SOOKFONG LEE was born and raised in Vancouver’s East Side, and she now lives with her son in North Burnaby. Her memoir, Superfan: How Pop Culture Broke My Heart, was a finalist for the 2024 Forest of Reading Evergreen Award and the City of Vancouver Book Award, was named a Best Book of 2023 by the Globe and Mail and Apple Books Canada, and was a TODAY Show Recommended Read. Jen is also the author of The Conjoined, longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award and a finalist for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize; The Better Mother, a finalist for the City of Vancouver Book Award; The End of East; The Shadow List; and Finding Home. Jen acquires and edits books for ECW Press.

Reviews

Finalist for the City of Vancouver Book Award

“A complex and layered second novel. . . . An ambitious and engaging read with a wholly original premise and characters you have likely yet to meet in Canadian fiction. . . . The Better Mother has more twists and turns than any back cover promotional copy could possibly describe, and its pacing is taut and clips along at a breathless speed that will keep you reading and wondering what’s coming next. . . . Straight-ahead page-turning brilliance.”
—Zoe Whittall, National Post

"Lee is an undeniably talented writer."
—The Globe and Mail

“Virtually oozing with sensuous and romantic longing. . . . A beautiful and tragic representation of vanity, disillusionment and hope. . . . With remarkable facility, Lee breathes life into two characters who lead lives of relative anonymity.”
—Winnipeg Free Press

“Lee is a fine storyteller, conjuring the histories of her amiable characters and a Vancouver that remains today in the collective memory of its long-time residents. More than a nostalgic montage of times and places, The Better Mother is an evocative portrait of two lonely hearts and their synchronized longings.”
—The Georgia Straight

"An entertaining and gripping read."
—Vancouver Sun

“A poignant story of loss, truth and the power of friendship.”
—Chatelaine

“The Better Mother brilliantly invites us to see the forgotten lives that have populated our cities—their vulnerabilities, their luminous and indomitable energy.”
—David Chariandy, author of Brother

“The Better Mother is a pitch-perfect portrait of the city I grew up in. But perhaps more importantly it is a skillful observation of the parts of us that often refuse to be seen. With great tenderness and poetry, Lee pulls aside the masks we wear to hide our raw emotions even while we yearn for the compassion of others.”
—Billie Livingston, author of Greedy Little Eyes