A Better Woman: A Memoir of Motherhood
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Book Overview
Acclaimed novelist Susan Johnson found, at age thirty-five, that her desire to have a baby became overwhelming. She had no inkling what motherhood would cost -- or give -- her. But as she went on to experience pregnancy and birth, and their impact on her marriage, health, and heart, she recorded it all. In this hauntingly lovely account, Johnson portrays a woman transformed by motherhood, and a writer forever changed by a widening chasm of experience. Her initial ecstasy jostles against bewilderment, rage, and despair, however, when she develops a rare complication of childbirth; she is a one-woman catastrophe, a small ruined country. She is also burning to get words on paper. The result, A Better Woman, should be required reading for every woman hungry to give birth -- and every mother yearning to have her deepest feelings heard
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0743432975
ISBN13:9780743432979
Release Date:August 2003
Publisher:Washington Square Press
Length:272 Pages
Weight:0.35 lbs.
Dimensions:0.7" x 5.3" x 8.3"
Customer Reviews
2 ratings
Poetic truth-telling about motherhood
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 15 years ago
Reading Susan Johnson's lyrically written account of the unexpected maternal wave that swept over her in the middle of her autonomous writer's life, I was brought straight back to the shock and power of my own early motherhood. Although I never suffered the physical disabilities Johnson describes, I understood perfectly the dual nature of love and drowning that Johnson experiences. There are so many hidden aspects of womanhood - so many unofficial stories. That mix of passion and powerlessness, that learning to relinquish control and the mourning of it, are universal experiences that are not often addressed and should be. If you want to read a very beautifullly written account of a real woman's experience of motherhood written by a powerful writer, this is the book.
A well written book
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 18 years ago
It is interesting to read Susan write about the two pregnancies she had and the resultant complication. It is also amazing to see how she entwines her life experiences in writing and draws something back into her life, a power which she gains from the understanding,knowledge of life through the writing. At one end if you get to know things like controlled crying technique for bablies, happy vomiters - Just as I wonder why the 'morning sickness' was never mentioned - she had to deal with many other serious problems in life like managing her career, finances. In a very simple style, she brings home many realisations in family realtions.
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