Rating: 
Summary: Don't read this if you're pregnant
Review: As a first-time expecting mother, I was looking for narratives about the mothering experience. Unfortunately I found this book first. Hundreds of pages about the distress of losing one's identity, and almost nothing about joy, discovery, love. I found this book so depressing, so pessimistic about my future life as a mother, that I had to force myself through it. I really hope that becoming a mother is not the bleak, alien, terrifying picture that she presents.
Rating:
Summary: Don't read this if you're pregnant
Review: As a first-time expecting mother, I was looking for narratives about the mothering experience. Unfortunately I found this book first. Hundreds of pages about the distress of losing one's identity, and almost nothing about joy, discovery, love. I found this book so depressing, so pessimistic about my future life as a mother, that I had to force myself through it. I really hope that becoming a mother is not the bleak, alien, terrifying picture that she presents.
Rating: 
Summary: Rachel, quit your whining!
Review: As a mother of two, this book was a HUGE waste of my time. No one ever said that motherhood was easy; in fact, it is the toughest, and most important job in the world. Not everyone has what it takes to be a mother -- it is a serious and life-altering experience. Perhaps Rachel wrote this book in the depths of postpartum depression?!?! Save your money -- especially if you are a parent. Use your reading time wisely and pass on this one. This was truly a letdown-- I read Rachel's book "The Country Life" and it is one of my all-time favorite books. Can't win them all!
Rating:
Summary: More a writer, less a mother
Review: I am all for expressing the dark side of motherhood--it can certainly be the worst of times. But it is also the best. That's why reading Rachel Cusk's book, A Life's Work, was distressing to me, to say the least.... But to present the dark without the bright is to do motherhood an injustice. There certainly is no doubt that Rachel Cusk can write. I will not dispute that. But it is clear to me that her problems have more to do with her own character, and less to do with motherhood. This book can serve as a warning to those women out there of similar attitude and outlook--who perhaps should think twice before they bring a little one into the world.
Rating: 
Summary: Finally, a book about motherhood that rings true
Review: I couldn't wait to read this book because 1) I really enjoy Rachel Cusk's novels and 2) I had just become a new mother. I was not disappointed--Rachel tells it like it is. She talks about all the difficult and ambivalent feelings of becoming a mother that most of us have kept to ourselves. The regret and the irrationality, the pride and protectiveness, the "out of body" experience that nobody can prepare you for--Rachel describes it all. With a great sense of humor and humanity, this book helped me make sense of my own experience of new motherhood.
Rating:
Summary: Simply the Best
Review: I haven't laughed so hard in ages. Rachel Cusk is a fantastic writer and her descriptions of motherhood are absolutely genuine. This is not a depressing book at all - it is hilarious and heartfelt and, in the end, Cusk does articulate the temporary nature of the worst of it...the first year or so of a baby's life. I've read many books on motherhood, hoping to see myself on the pages. This was it. Thank you, Rachel Cusk.
Rating:
Summary: Coping with motherhood
Review: I was drawn to this book at first glance, having struggled with the isolation and dramatic identity shifts that new motherhood brings. I quickly found myself annoyed with how Rachel Cusk's intelligence, education and ability to articulate gave her a voice to express these feelings, but no way to cope. Life forces us to deal with things we hadn't anticipated; we DON'T have control over our lives if we want to live among others, be they friends, parents, siblings, spouses, or children.
The balance between dependence and independence was the first lesson I learned in marriage, and it has served me well in coping with the sometimes painful aspects of being a mother. Cusk's shock at the demands of parenthood shows that she's never learned to live for/with anyone but herself. It seems a rather sad life for her and for her family.
Rating:
Summary: Cusk: Definitely a writer, but a mother?
Review: I'm a mother of two children, born one year apart; I am also a writer. My daughter was born with a cleft palate, was colicky and could not nurse. I am all for telling the truth about motherhood--the madness, the mayhem, the feelings of isolation, helplessness and frustration.I'm all for talking about the lows...but talk about the highs too. This book is rather extreme in its bleakness--and as a reader, I get the sense that this has less to do with motherhood than it has to do with the writer's own character--in this case, someone who is very self-centered. As I read it, I kept hoping that Cusk was exaggerating for effect (fiction writers do that)--because if not, oh the poor baby girls! There is no doubt that Cusk is a brilliant writer, but in this case, perhaps unknowingly, she has showed too much of her hand. Not every woman is cut out for motherhood, and even while one is bemoaning the very real travails of this occupation, one would think her love for her daughter would shine through. It doesn't--and for that reason alone, this book was very distressing to read.
Rating:
Summary: One-sided and almost dull
Review: I'm pregnant with my first child and was also looking on personal accounts of the "mother" experience. I guess I can't say if it's right or not, still being pregnant but my best guess is that this is very slanted. So this woman felt invaded and overwhelmed with her daughter, but hey, what did she expect?
I'm tired of people having babies and then complaining that they can't continue their life as it used to be before. Hello?! What did you have a child for? To play with it a little and then put it on a shelf?
Rating:
Summary: Ugh
Review: If being a mother is as horrific and depressing as Rachel Cusk makes it sound, then why did she have a second child? I am so sorry that I read this book.
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