A Life's Work: On Becoming a Mother

Rating:
Summary: the real deal
Review: Rachel Cusk's novel "The Country Life" is a favorite of mine-so I was eager to read her thoughts on new motherhood, being the mother of a young child myself. I found the book somewhat disjointed, and felt like she was writing in a stream of consciousness form sometimes. However-I have never read someone so accurately describe the intense feelings of bewilderment that life with a baby can induce in you (speaking for myself). The combination of devoted love and attachment one feels for a child & at the same time longing for freedom lost, resentment at times too; Rachel Cusk conveys this conflict successfully, especially in the last few chapters. I do not think anyone who is not a mother should read this-I would think it sound too scary. Ms Cusk even says in the intro that this book is mainly for people who are already mothers-as the description of parenting "loses something in the translation" to non parents. I couldn't agree more.

Rating:
Summary: Overcerebration
Review: The author uses her considerable gifts as a writer to over-cerebrate what is more an instinctual experience. I wanted to say to her character, "Relax, let it go, you don't have to fully and exhaustively understand everything." And I must comment on her mystification/disgust at the "conspiracy" of silence among mothers when it comes to telling expectant mothers exactly how it is. Perhaps Cusk realizes now what I very quickly understood: a woman can't bear to tell another woman who hasn't been through childbirth what it's really like. She's not being stubborn or obtuse but protective. It's a deep, again, instinctual thing, like you'd protect your daughter or younger sister from knowing things until they were ready for them. Since her book was written after her baby was born, on this point, Cusk shows an appalling lack of sensitivity and insight.

Rating:
Summary: Not for the PERFECT mothers out there
Review: This book is a well written account of the feelings of having a child enter your life. It is not a guide, not an inspirational work, etc. Rachel Cusk describes how life-changing it was for her to have a new baby. It will upset some readers because she does not fill the book with sentimental descriptions of new baby smell, etc. Many of the details were easy for me to relate to ...like realizing that for parents with children there simply are no more "weekends". I would recommend this to all potential moms who really want to know how it might be.