An inquiry – personal and scientific – into what happens mentally, spiritually, and physically during the process of becoming a mother, from pregnancy and childbirth to early motherhood.
The best book I’ve ever read about motherhood ... Experimental flourishes in her text – alongside all that beautiful, accessible writing – also add to its majesty ... Essential reading, bloody and alive, roaring and ready to change conversations.
A boundary-pushing book that is altogether tricksier, more complex and creative ... At times I found myself craving more delight, particularly because Jones’s writing on this aspect of motherhood is some of the most beautiful and creative in the book ... Even for mothers who found matrescence a smoother experience, there is much to be gleaned as Jones skilfully elucidates the monumental shifts it brings ... If at times there is an uneasy tension in this book between the science, memoir, social commentary and flashes of creative writing, this is a testament to its ambition.
An ambitious, wide-ranging work that is at once memoir, analysis and social study ... Jones details what it is like to undergo matrescence with blistering personal experience and meticulous research. She is a gifted writer ... A vital book.
