I definitely rec Barbara Michaels' Witch, which I just read recently - Gothic starring a mom with a teenage daughter!
Another Barbara: Barbara Hambly's Dragonsbane revolves on the question of whether the high-fantasy heroine will abandon her family to pursue various opportunities for power and magical knowledge and freedom. Her kids aren't present for very much of the book, but their existence is definitely significant.
The Blank Wall is a 1930s suspense novel about a housewife who discovers that her sweet, elderly father has accidentally murdered her daughter's no-good boyfriend and has to clean up the mess.
In Armistice, the sequel to Lara Elena Donnelly's Amberlough, the diplomat heroine's adolescent son is hostage to her good behavior and compliance with the regime she works for, and a big part of the plot revolves around the plan to rescue him.
The heroine of Amy Stewart's Girl Waits With Gun and sequels -- based-on-a-true-story adventures about a turn-of-the-century female deputy sheriff -- is deeply involved in the raising of her 'teen sister' who is actually her daughter.
In addition to Lifelode, Jo Walton's My Real Children is (unsurprisingly) full of moms!
Diana Wynne Jones' Aunt Maria has the heroine's mother as a very significant secondary character (iirc I think DWJ said that book was written as a pushback against writing parents off in magical adventures). Other good and interesting DWJ moms who play less of a role in the plot: Millie in Charmed Life, Lenina in Cart and Cwidder, and Mara in Dark Lord of Derkholm.
Kate Elliott's Court of Fives trilogy also has the heroine's mother as a major secondary character, with her own often-backscreened but hugely significant arc.
...I'm sure I can think of more but this is already a lot so I'm gonna call it for now!
no subject
Another Barbara: Barbara Hambly's Dragonsbane revolves on the question of whether the high-fantasy heroine will abandon her family to pursue various opportunities for power and magical knowledge and freedom. Her kids aren't present for very much of the book, but their existence is definitely significant.
The Blank Wall is a 1930s suspense novel about a housewife who discovers that her sweet, elderly father has accidentally murdered her daughter's no-good boyfriend and has to clean up the mess.
In Armistice, the sequel to Lara Elena Donnelly's Amberlough, the diplomat heroine's adolescent son is hostage to her good behavior and compliance with the regime she works for, and a big part of the plot revolves around the plan to rescue him.
The heroine of Amy Stewart's Girl Waits With Gun and sequels -- based-on-a-true-story adventures about a turn-of-the-century female deputy sheriff -- is deeply involved in the raising of her 'teen sister' who is actually her daughter.
In addition to Lifelode, Jo Walton's My Real Children is (unsurprisingly) full of moms!
Diana Wynne Jones' Aunt Maria has the heroine's mother as a very significant secondary character (iirc I think DWJ said that book was written as a pushback against writing parents off in magical adventures). Other good and interesting DWJ moms who play less of a role in the plot: Millie in Charmed Life, Lenina in Cart and Cwidder, and Mara in Dark Lord of Derkholm.
Kate Elliott's Court of Fives trilogy also has the heroine's mother as a major secondary character, with her own often-backscreened but hugely significant arc.
...I'm sure I can think of more but this is already a lot so I'm gonna call it for now!