Monday, January 03, 2005

A Life's Work: On Becoming a Mother by Rachel Cusk

I hated being a mother at first. I was completely unprepared for the raw relentlessness of the work. Exacerbating the problem was the isolation; isolation not only from the rest of the world, but from other mothers, smiling mothers, who somehow didn't seem to mind.

I've read a lot of books--a lot of books--on mothering and parenthood. Rachel Cusk is the first author whose voice feels authentic. Sure, The Girlfriend's Guides cover much of the same territory, but for some reason, Vicky thinks this is all funny. It isn't. Rachel knows that. I would highly recommend this book to anyone struggling with new motherhood. Cusk articulates several dimensions of new mom angst amazingly well.

(A post script: Seven years later, and again with a newborn, I feel delighted each morning at the prospect of spending another day mothering.)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rosalynde again.

I read this a few months ago and enjoyed it as well--although occasionally she drove me a little nutty with her ineptitude. I too had an extremely rocky introduction to motherhood, so I identified with a lot of what she records.

Julie M. Smith said...

Really? Can you give me an example? (Is the reason I didn't notice because I was similarly inept?)

Anonymous said...

Like when she basically barricaded herself and her daughter into the kitchen for three months rather than baby-proof her house, and then complained that she was bored, for example. :)

Rosalynde

Julie M. Smith said...

OK, that was dumb, but I doubt she would have been less bored in another room.

This is my first blog baby, and you'd be surprised how little crying jags bug me now ;)

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