Best Books for Examining Modern Motherhood

Modern motherhood is beset with a minefield of obstacles — some entirely unanticipated. Women must juggle a barrage of competing roles and responsibilities. As a way to help women find their way through the morass of modern motherhood, these five women authors divulge their own experiences to help those on the cusp of becoming mothers and those well into their mothering roles.

1. “Wild Mothering: Finding Power, Spirit, and Joy in Birth and a Creative Motherhood,” by Tami Lynn Kent. In mothering, women’s attention is often pulled outside themselves, and yet they are the center for the family. Bringing focus to their own center, women find a resonance with the energy from which their creative essence and the source of their mothering arises. Kent, a women’s health physical therapist, draws from her work with thousands of women and her own soul-filled journey from miscarriage to mothering her three sons into adulthood in this comprehensive guide to the transformative processes of pregnancy, birth, and motherhood. Her term “wild mothering” applies to drawing from the creative currents of the body’s center, which energize rather than deplete women in their mothering roles.
2. “Surviving Motherhood: 50 Lessons from the Heart,” By Cynthia Tatum-Robinson. In this inspiring collection of short stories, Tatum-Robinson, a mother of four, reveals bits of wisdom to help inspire and uplift women as they strive to survive the many stages of motherhood. This easy and informative read transparently explores the tough times mothers face and celebrates those special moments mothers live for. It explores matters close to mothers’ hearts — from showing grace to oneself and others to tips on raising compassionate children — and offers comfort, hope, and strength. Every mother will find relatable passages, from the challenging to the inspiring. Surviving Motherhood empowers women to embrace their journey.
3. “Following the Sun: Tales (and Fails) From a Year Around the World With Our Kids,” by Margaret Bensfield Sullivan. What happens when wanderlust hits at a time when you have two young children, ages four and six? Bensfield Sullivan writes with humor and candor about her family’s ambitious year-long adventure traveling to six continents and 29 countries. Part travelogue and part insights about the day-to-day complexity of travel with little ones, she vividly weaves in stories of her family’s exotic experiences with commentary on parenting. Following the Sun is an entertaining romp for armchair or soon-to-be traveling families alongside revelations about what it means to be a parent today.
4. “Knocked Down: A High-Risk Memoir,” by Aileen Weintraub. In her debut memoir, the seasoned author and journalist describes her perfect storm of a complicated pregnancy, shaky marriage, falling-down house, financial problems, and grief over her father’s death with both witty observations and poignant musings. After she was prescribed bed rest for five months to avoid miscarriage, she describes the demanding journey of sacrificing her body and spirit for the health of her baby. Sequestered and immobile, she contemplates how she arrived in this state while grappling with blame, loss of autonomy, and perseverance. Knocked Down is an emotionally charged roller-coaster story about marriage and motherhood through the twists and turns associated with self-discovery, survival, and growth.
5. “Understanding Ruptured Mother-Daughter Relationships,” by Khara Croswaite Brindle. A mental health professional, Croswaite Brindle applies her experience from working with adult daughters who have estranged from their mothers to tackle the emotional rollercoaster of ruptured family relationships. In working with her clients through this complex, painful experience, she has come to recognize a pattern in their process that she describes as the Estrangement Energy Cycle. Readers are taken on a journey through the various stages of the cycle, moving from the daughter’s recognition of a pattern of abuse, through grief and loss, and finally to redefining their self-worth. Personal stories from women’s experiences illustrate the cycle that can lead to making an empowered choice to either reconcile or estrange from their mothers.

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