What was mothering like in the past?
When acclaimed historian Sarah Knott became pregnant, she asked herself this question. But accounts of motherhood are hard to find. For centuries, historians have concerned themselves with wars, politics and revolutions, not the everyday details of carrying and caring for a baby. Much to do with becoming a mother, past or present, is lost or forgotten.
Using the arc of her own experience, from miscarriage to the birth and early babyhood of her two children, and drawing on letters, diaries, court records and paintings, Sarah Knott explores the ever-changing experiences of maternity across the ages. From the labour pains felt by an enslaved woman to the triumphant smile of a royal mistress bearing a king's first son; from a 1950s suburban housewife to a working-class East Ender taking her baby to the factory; these lost stories of mothering create a moving depiction of an ever-changing human experience.
'A joy to read' New York Times
'Timely and fascinating' Amanda Foreman
'Utterly compelling' Financial Times
'Knott manages to combine scholarship with personal experience in a heartfelt and original way. Every mother-to-be should read it' Sunday Times
'Wonderful... This is history at its best: writing that unfolds the past and sheds light on the present' Financial Times
'A stunning book, riveting from beginning to end' Diane Atkinson, author of 'Rise Up Women!: The Remarkable Lives of the Suffragettes'
- American Crime & Thriller Writers
- Amish Romance
- Armchair Athletes
- Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City
- Aye Write! 2019
- Aye Write! 2020
- Aye Write 2021
- Aye Write 2022 Fiction
- Aye Write 2022 Non-fiction
- BBC - The Novels That Shaped Our World
- Big Jubilee Read
- A Bit of Light Relief
- Book Week Scotland 2021
- See all
- A little romance
- Audio Featured Author - Anne Tyler
- ...and relax
- Laugh loudly and often!
- Newly Added Audiobooks
- Science Fiction
- Staff Recommends
- Travel Through Time - Historical Fiction audiobooks
- 20th Century Classics
- Masters of Suspense
- Try Something Different
- MORE LIKE: Karin Slaughter
- Top 100 Audiobooks 2019
- See all