There are as many ways to experience motherhood as there are mothers. Motherhood encompasses everything from pregnancy to miscarriage to abortion to birth to adoption to caring for grandchildren. And yet, there are elements to it that are universal. I’ve yet to meet a mother who doesn’t feel judged for her choices, like she’s failing in at least one area of life (usually all of them), and like she’s missing vital time to recharge. Motherhood today may allow for a much wider range of definitions, but it is increasingly complex, confusing, overwhelming and isolating.
Here Katherine May gathers a wonderful collection of writings on these experiences from a selection of writers. These women lay bare their most vulnerable experiences, explore uncomfortable truths and share the unique challenges they face as mothers in today’s world. While they are as different as the women who wrote them, they each vibrate with emotion. Every woman in this book has a vital perspective to share, and as a whole this book represents the breadth and diversity of motherhood experiences.
As with any collection, I connected with some pieces more than others. Then there were the ones that allowed me to peek behind the curtain into someone’s life that was so different from my own. And yet I felt this intense sense of recognition. Motherhood is hard. Whether you’re doing it alone or with a partner, whether you’re pregnant by accident or after a long time trying, whether you’re a young mother embarking on adult life as a mom or experiencing a late-life pregnancy, whether you’re caring for a child you gave birth to or one that came to you in another way – there’s something about motherhood that creates an instant bond between moms. And so I felt, while reading, like I could see pieces of myself in many of the pieces I read. I recognized the exhaustion, the frustration, the loneliness and the desperate, all-consuming love. It’s such a powerful experience, and one that severs all ties to who you were before embarking on it.
I think this is a book all moms should read, but also one that all partners of moms should read too. If you’re considering becoming a parent and want to know what it’s really like, this book is also one to turn to. It’s honest, unflinching, tender, desperate and extremely emotional. It’s full of women who are fierce and vulnerable, usually at the same time. I can’t recommend it highly enough. It’s one that I’ll be revisiting in the future, without a doubt.
Motherhood is life-changing. Joyful. Disorientating. Overwhelming. Intense on every level. It’s the best, most awful job.
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 – Goodreads
Book Title: The Best, Most Awful Job
Editor: Katherine May
Series: No
Edition: Hardback
Published By: Elliott & Thompson Limited
Released: March 19, 2020
Genre: Non-Fiction, Motherhood, Personal Narrative
Pages: 196
Date Read: October 9, 2021
Rating: 9/10
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.22/5 (193 ratings)
