
The Dark-Robed Mother
A Memoir
Rachel Tzvia Back(Author)
Wesleyan University Press
Will be published approx. on 10. February 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
192 pages
978-0-8195-0214-8 (ISBN)
Description
A lyric memoir about motherhood, depression, and writing_x000D_
_x000D_
The Dark-Robed Mother is a striking blend of memoir and poetry, grappling with a cyclical "high-functioning" depression and its profound impact on self and family. It is also a modern descent into the underworld, reckoning with the myth of Demeter and Persephone as it unfolds through lived experience. Poet Rachel Tzvia Back draws on this ancient story of loss, return, and the aching bond between generations to illuminate her journey through decades of living, writing, and mothering with depression. She also explores family history and interviews each of her own children as she seeks to understand depression's mark from generation to generation. Threading myth through memoir, poetry through prose, Back confronts the question: how do we survive seasons of despair? And can we break the cycles that bind us to sorrow? Singular memories stand out as navigational "cairns," and the book calls on the poetry of other writers, summoning language to help retrieve oneself from the depths. The Dark-Robed Mother is a rare work of intellect and tenderness-a searching, intimate account of the importance of stories, language, and imagination.
_x000D_
The Dark-Robed Mother is a striking blend of memoir and poetry, grappling with a cyclical "high-functioning" depression and its profound impact on self and family. It is also a modern descent into the underworld, reckoning with the myth of Demeter and Persephone as it unfolds through lived experience. Poet Rachel Tzvia Back draws on this ancient story of loss, return, and the aching bond between generations to illuminate her journey through decades of living, writing, and mothering with depression. She also explores family history and interviews each of her own children as she seeks to understand depression's mark from generation to generation. Threading myth through memoir, poetry through prose, Back confronts the question: how do we survive seasons of despair? And can we break the cycles that bind us to sorrow? Singular memories stand out as navigational "cairns," and the book calls on the poetry of other writers, summoning language to help retrieve oneself from the depths. The Dark-Robed Mother is a rare work of intellect and tenderness-a searching, intimate account of the importance of stories, language, and imagination.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 204 mm
Width: 155 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
304 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8195-0214-8 (9780819502148)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
02/2026
Wesleyan University Press
€19.49
Available for download
Person
RACHEL TZVIA BACK is a poet, translator and professor of literature. The author of 12 books, her poems and verse translations have received awards and recognitions, including the Times Literary Supplement Award, PEN Translation Prize, and Finalist for the National Poetry Award in Translation.
Content
Preface
1: First Descent
2: Origin Stories
3: Living With
4: Grief
5: The Children Of
6: Necessary Poems
7: From Across the Decades
Coda
Author's Note
Notes
Acknowledgements
1: First Descent
2: Origin Stories
3: Living With
4: Grief
5: The Children Of
6: Necessary Poems
7: From Across the Decades
Coda
Author's Note
Notes
Acknowledgements