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Original poster

Women writers who depict childrearing in a literary & non-fluffy way - any recs.?

37 replies

FaddyPeony · 28/06/2013 20:46

On my list so far I have:

Anne Enright
Rachel Cusk
Sarah Moss

...And now I am stumped, can't think of any more. Are there more?

OP posts:
exexpat · 29/06/2013 17:39

Oh, and also The Man Who Loved Children by Christina Stead (Australian classic, though set in the US).

exexpat · 29/06/2013 17:35

The mention of the L-shaped Room reminded of another classic: Margaret Drabble's The Millstone.

tumbletumble · 29/06/2013 15:47

Pregnancy - The L Shaped Room by Lynne Reid Banks is brilliant (although now outdated re society's view of single mothers).

I have also enjoyed:
Other People's Children by Joanna Trollope (about older children)
Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner
I Don't Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson
Wife in the North by Judith O'Reilly

Love the three listed in your OP, and Maggie O'Farrell as already mentioned.

GoingToBedfordshire · 29/06/2013 15:38

Have just finished Instructions for a Heatwave. It has strong themes of parental/child and sibling relationships and felt very real to me. Beautifully written although the story didn't grab me as fiercely as some of her other books.

iheartdusty · 29/06/2013 15:25

an older one - "They Knew Mr Knight" by Dorothy Whipple

written in the 1930s, the portrayal of the mother's insight into her teenage daughter, and her tenderness and recognition of the young woman's needs struck me as extraordinarily modern.

i know you said sleepless early years, but child rearing doesn't end there...

exexpat · 29/06/2013 00:12

Barbara Kingsolver's latest, Flight Behaviour, isn't about child-rearing, but it features heavily, and in a very realistic way.

blueshoes · 28/06/2013 23:14

We need to talk about Kevin - Lionel Shriver. No doubt controversial ...

Original poster
FaddyPeony · 28/06/2013 22:16

oh interesting, User - I've just started Instructions for a Heatwave by MOF and although I'm only a few pages in it has the feel of something that might hold authentic writing about parents/children.

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User2605 · 28/06/2013 22:04

The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O' Farrell

Original poster
FaddyPeony · 28/06/2013 21:22

Thank you for the recommendation watermint - I'd never heard of Helen Walsh. Have just googled and Go to Sleep sounds right up my street.

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watermint · 28/06/2013 21:11

go to sleep by Helen Walsh was good - more about pnd in v early days though. I really enjoyed night waking by Sarah moss too.

Original poster
FaddyPeony · 28/06/2013 20:48

I should clarify that I'm interested primarily in fiction-writers right now, and by 'childrearing' I mean covering stuff like pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, the sleeplessness and relentlessness of the early years...basically, I'm looking for fiction that what it feels like to be a mother.

Not sure that publishers are particularly interested in gritty accounts of same...

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