Frida is the protagonist of The School for Good Mothers, who is in her late thirties. The daughter of Chinese immigrants, successful professors, Frida edits a faculty research journal and splits custody of her toddler daughter, Harriet, with her white ex-husband, Gust, and his new girlfriend, Susanna, until she leaves Harriet alone for two hours one day after not sleeping for six nights. Child Protective Services (CPS) sends Frida to a new institution meant to train women to be better mothers so they can regain custody of their children. However, the pilot program is deeply flawed and unethical, run by people who aren’t parents and who abuse A. I. “dolls” that the mothers practice mothering on. The “school” resembles more of a prison, with extensive policing of behavior and emotions via cameras around the school and inside the dolls. In this toxic environment where they must hide negative emotions, many mothers struggle with mental health, including Frida.

In some ways, Frida’s transformation is tragic because CPS puts her in an impossible situation. Ironically, she does become a “better” mother in terms of developing her empathy, attachment, and devotion, but she does so in ways that are not what the school has in mind.