Adrift

Fieldnotes from Almost-Motherhood

Adrift
Miranda Ward
RRP:
NZ$ 29.99
Our Price:
NZ$ 23.99
Paperback
h196 x 128mm - 304pg
17 Feb 2022 UK
International import eta 7-19 days
9781474614160
Out Of Stock
Currently no stock in-store, stock is sourced to your order
' The world is not neatly divided into two camps of women, those who wanted to reproduce and did, and those who didn' t want to, and didn' t. So many of us are caught here, in between, neither one thing nor the other, drifting towards a receding horizon, in our own camp . . . ' When Miranda Ward and her husband decided to have a baby, they were optimistic. There was no reason not to be: they were both young, they were both healthy. But five years, three miscarriages and one ectopic pregnancy later, Ward finds herself still dealing with the ongoing aftermath of that decision: the waiting, the doubting, the despairing, the hoping. ADRIFT is a memoir about the unique place of almost-motherhood. Some people pass through it without even noticing; others languish there, held safe, held prisoner, by the walls of not-knowing - for as long as there is still a question mark, an open ending, there is a chance of escape. Inspired by her childhood on the California coast, Ward turns to the water, seeking solace in a landscape of a different kind - the swimming pool. Hoping to make sense of the uncertainty, she begins to ask questions of geography on the most intimate scale. How do we learn to feel at home in our own bodies, even when they disobey? How can we find our way, even when we feel adrift? What language do we have for the spaces in between? Charting a journey through territory at once deeply personal and widely shared, Ward offers a searing, lyrical and radically honest narrative of fertility and motherhood that is less often told.
ADRIFT is, quite simply, the best book on its subject I have ever read. Miranda' s thoughtful, sharp, insightful, funny, brave, honest and often painful writing on fertility has given form and life and language to something fundamental and universal. I wish I' d had it years ago. I' m so glad to have it now. The clever use of structure, the humour, the feather light touch of her narrative voice; it is the sort of book that makes you wish you were a better writer. I have no doubt it is going to help a lot of people and touch many more -- NELL FRIZZELL It' s long past time we stopped tip-toeing around the subject of miscarriage and started to acknowledge the difficult space between pregnant and not and all the emotions that live there. (Contrary to common belief, you can in fact be a little bit pregnant). Miranda Ward gets the conversation started in this thoughtful, beautifully-written, devastating exploration of the will to reproduce and the wildness of the body. This is a vastly important and necessary book -- LAUREN ELKIN I was both captivated by Miranda Ward' s story and impressed by her attention, perspective and understatement. Her experience of "almost motherhood" is told with truth and clarity in a way that will be a comfort to some and a revelation to others -- AMY LIPTROT Finally, the important and interesting subject of almost-motherhood is given due attention. ADRIFT is a crucial, precious book by a writer with a wide-ranging intellect, beautiful prose and an astute and refreshingly honest voice. I was hooked by it, and fascinated by the layers she weaves as she moves the topics of fertility and pregnancy loss into the light. ADRIFT will be a balm and a relief for many women, longing for a book that takes such a major and common life experience seriously and gives it the thought and care it deserves -- LUCY JONES Miranda Ward captures the visceral hopelessness of infertility, and an ambiguous but mostly-unspoken space that many women unwillingly occupy forever. She never flinches from the pain, and because of this her tender book will be precious to many readers -- JEAN HANNAH EDELSTEIN
MIRANDA WARD is a writer, lecturer and freelance editor. She has a PhD in cultural geography from Royal Holloway, University of London, where her research centred on the geographies of lap swimming and the indoor swimming pool. She grew up on a cattle ranch in California and now lives in Oxford.
Status: Active
ISBN-13: 9781474614160
Published: 17 Feb 2022
Published In: United Kingdom
Imprint: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Publisher: Orion Publishing Co
Format: Paperback
Height: 196mm
Width: 128mm
Spine: 28mm
Weight: 266g
Pages: 304

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