My Review of The Best Most Awful Job edited by Katherine May

I cheered at the very idea of this book. At last, and hurrah for an honest account of the joys, trials, tribulations and sacrifices of motherhood.

It's a rare gem that allows us to not just feel sympathy but an avalanche of empathy too. I recognised myself, my mum, my sisters, my aunties, my female friends in so many of the accounts. I laughed and cried for women I have never met but with whom I share the unbreakable bond of motherhood with.

All of the stories touched my heart from Saimar Mir's Maternal Rage, who amongst us hasn't lost the plot when standing barefoot on a rogue piece of Lego? to other less familiar experiences such as Emily Morris' The Absence, with her struggle and survival of a debilitating disease and being a single parent. I want to give all these women a hug and tell them how amazing they are in a society that does not value mothers and our impact on society. As I can't do that I'll do the next best thing and buy a copy of The Best Most Awful Job for every mother I know and I urge you to do the same.

The mother I return to most in my thoughts is Michelle Adams and her Learning to Be a Mother, her experience is completely out of my realm of knowledge but she has had a profound impact on the way I think with her polemic on what is a 'real' mother. 

Thanks to Anne Cater for my gifted copy of the book.