Lifting the lid on the motherhood paradox with The Australian

It’s not every day an author receives a review in the flagship newspaper The Australian, so I was very excited (with a little bit of trepidation!) to see my review appear today titled ‘Lifting the lid on the motherhood paradox.”

Reviewer Jess Malcolm described my new book, The Maternal Experience: Encounters With Ambivalence And Love as: “An enriched, thorough and well-researched examination of mothering which will make its mark on the social, philosophical and cultural dialogue of women’s studies.” 

“(The book is) a scholarly yet deeply personal examination of the conflict of emotions frequently experienced by women when raising children, and the perplexing ­dichotomy of being able to love and hate your child in fleeting ­moments as a mother,” the review says.

“What is clear from the book is that there needs to be a reinvention of the way the mother is perceived. Historically, mothers have been expected to be endlessly ­loving, and are not permitted to complain. This has been worsened by the fact that some women cannot be mothers biologically, which compounds into a cycle of guilt and shame for women who can, but are struggling emotionally.”

I could not agree more. As a society, we need a frank and full discussion about this. I am now in the process of writing my second book on this endlessly fascinating subject … watch this space!