The Best, Most Awful Job
Twenty Writers Talk Honestly About Motherhood
Will be published approx. on 19. March 2020
Book
Hardback
196 pages
978-1-78396-486-4 (ISBN)
Description
'Poignant, funny, sensitive, but most importantly, heart-stoppingly true. This is an outstanding collection of essays, from some of the finest writers, which gets right to the dark heart of what it really means to be a mother.' - Clover Stroud, author of My Wild and Sleepless Nights
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Motherhood is life-changing. Joyful. Disorientating. Overwhelming. Intense on every level. It's the best, most awful job.
>br/>The Best, Most Awful Job brings together twenty bold and brilliant women to speak about motherhood in all its raw, heart-wrenching, gloriously impossible forms.
Overturning assumptions, breaking down myths and shattering stereotypes, these writers challenge our perceptions of what it means to be a mother - and ask you to listen.
Contributors include:
Michelle Adams - Javaria Akbar - Charlene Allcott - MiMi Aye - Jodi Bartle - Sharmila Chauhan - Josie George - Leah Hazard - Joanne Limburg - Katherine May - Susana Moreira Marques - Dani McClain - Hollie McNish - Saima Mir - Carolina Alvarado Molk - Emily Morris - Jenny Parrott - Huma Qureshi - Peggy Riley - Michelle Tea - Tiphanie Yanique
'A wonderful anthology. I enjoyed it so much - the honesty, intelligence, fury and tenderness of the essays; and, importantly and refreshingly, the range of voices and stories it contains.' - Liz Berry, author of The Republic of Motherhood
'This is the kind of book that could well make a difference to someone's life ... every mother should read it.' - Laura Pearson, author of I Wanted You to Know
'If I had added a Post-it Note to every sentence in this book that made me laugh, wince in recognition, or faintly well up, I would have turned it into a paper porcupine.' - Ceri Radford, Independent
-------------------------
Motherhood is life-changing. Joyful. Disorientating. Overwhelming. Intense on every level. It's the best, most awful job.
>br/>The Best, Most Awful Job brings together twenty bold and brilliant women to speak about motherhood in all its raw, heart-wrenching, gloriously impossible forms.
Overturning assumptions, breaking down myths and shattering stereotypes, these writers challenge our perceptions of what it means to be a mother - and ask you to listen.
Contributors include:
Michelle Adams - Javaria Akbar - Charlene Allcott - MiMi Aye - Jodi Bartle - Sharmila Chauhan - Josie George - Leah Hazard - Joanne Limburg - Katherine May - Susana Moreira Marques - Dani McClain - Hollie McNish - Saima Mir - Carolina Alvarado Molk - Emily Morris - Jenny Parrott - Huma Qureshi - Peggy Riley - Michelle Tea - Tiphanie Yanique
'A wonderful anthology. I enjoyed it so much - the honesty, intelligence, fury and tenderness of the essays; and, importantly and refreshingly, the range of voices and stories it contains.' - Liz Berry, author of The Republic of Motherhood
'This is the kind of book that could well make a difference to someone's life ... every mother should read it.' - Laura Pearson, author of I Wanted You to Know
'If I had added a Post-it Note to every sentence in this book that made me laugh, wince in recognition, or faintly well up, I would have turned it into a paper porcupine.' - Ceri Radford, Independent
Reviews / Votes
'All the pain, power and privilege of being a mother is here in these tales of stepparenting; being unable to conceive; having six children; single parenthood; and of how race, class, disability, religion and sexuality affect our perceptions of motherhood' - Caroline Sanderson, The Bookseller Editor's ChoiceMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 138 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-78396-486-4 (9781783964864)
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
03/2020
Elliott & Thompson
€10.49
Available for download
Person
Katherine May is an author of fiction and memoir whose most recent works have shown a willingness to deal frankly with the more ambiguous aspects of parenting. In The Electricity of Every Living Thing she explored the challenges - and joys - of being an autistic mother, and sparked a debate about the right of mothers to ask for solitude. In the forthcoming Wintering, she looks at the ways in which parenting can lead to periods of isolation and stress. She lives with her husband and son in Whitstable, Kent.
Content
CONTENTS; Introduction vii; Katherine May; What Your Mother Didn't Tell You 1; Leah Hazard; On the Shock of a Surprise Pregnancy 7; Javaria Akbar; Maternal Rage 15; Saima Mir; High on Oxytocin and Tea 23; Jodi Bartle; By Instinct 29; Huma Qureshi; A Heartbeat 37; Peggy Riley; The Absence 49; Emily Morris; Learning to Be a Mother 63; Michelle Adams
Can I Touch Myself, Though? 73; Hollie McNish; Brief Exchanges 83; Susana Moreira Marques, translated by Julia Sanches; On Stigma and Stoicism 97; Dani McClain; On Working Out What It All Means 105; Josie George; Boys Will Be Whatever 113; Michelle Tea; The Psychic 121; Charlene Allcott; An Honour I Probably Don't Deserve 129; Jenny Parrott; The Dishes 137; Sharmila Chauhan; Sometimes the Other Way Around 147; Joanne Limburg; Misfit 157; MiMi Aye; Maternal Landscapes 165; Carolina Alvarado Molk; Living with Children 173; Tiphanie Yanique; Acknowledgements 181; Contributor Biographies 183
Can I Touch Myself, Though? 73; Hollie McNish; Brief Exchanges 83; Susana Moreira Marques, translated by Julia Sanches; On Stigma and Stoicism 97; Dani McClain; On Working Out What It All Means 105; Josie George; Boys Will Be Whatever 113; Michelle Tea; The Psychic 121; Charlene Allcott; An Honour I Probably Don't Deserve 129; Jenny Parrott; The Dishes 137; Sharmila Chauhan; Sometimes the Other Way Around 147; Joanne Limburg; Misfit 157; MiMi Aye; Maternal Landscapes 165; Carolina Alvarado Molk; Living with Children 173; Tiphanie Yanique; Acknowledgements 181; Contributor Biographies 183