The Nursery by Szilvia Molnar

I thought this was an amazing literary rendition of all of the unromantic but very real parts of first time motherhood--in preparing to write this review, I find that it did not strike the same chord with other reviewers. One thought it was not compelling--wrong! Another thought it was less about motherhood and more about the loneliness of motherhood--also wrong! Another said it "paints an honest, frightening and claustrophobic picture of new motherhood"--much closer to how I felt. I would day that if you are a parent, and a mother in particular, this will resonate for you. It has been 35 years since I had my first child, and yet everything about this book feels real and like it happened yesterday. It is so raw and graphic about every aspect of change that happens, and in the most unromantic terms possible. This particular mother is left alone at home to cope with her baby whilst her husband returns to work--which is often the reality of modern day motherhood. There is no community to gather around and support the new mother, teaching her how to breastfeed, caring for the newborn while she gets some rest, helping with household chores so things don't fall apart, and reassuring her that all this will pass and become rhythmic and normal. In the absence of that, it is hard to combat the isolation and sense that you have absolutely no idea what you are doing. Then there is the post-partum mental illness aspect of this, with depression versus psychosis, flirting with true disaster and the lack of support for what might be going terribly wrong inside this new mother's mind from her spouse. So the story goes from relatable to all to relatable for some, but even the most stable amongst us has had moments of completely understanding how someone could think that throwing the baby out the window, or fantasize about walking away and never coming back . It is one of the least talked about yet hardest thing a couple undertakes to keep a baby alive and well that first year of life, and this book lays it all out there with an insouciant tone that I found both alarming and charming. I must warn you though, do not read this if you are childless, and definitely not if you are on the fence about breeding. It is painfully and frighteningly true to life.