With Mother’s Day just around the corner, now is a good time to think about books for the mother-figure in your life. Mothers can be caretakers, but they are also trailblazers and heroes; people with their own lives and interests outside of their motherly roles.
These books—all recently released—are moving pictures of womanhood, trauma, and, in varied ways, of what it means to be a mother figure within our society. Whether it’s for your own mother, a person who has stepped in to fill the role, or if you’re a mother yourself, there is an abundance of new books to charm, soothe, and inspire.
What does it mean to be a feminist? I Am a Feminist: Claiming the F-Word in Turbulent Times (Orca Book Publishers) by Monique Polak is an introduction for young adults to the “f-word.” Diving into issues of gender inequality ranging from the suffragists to the #metoo movement, I Am a Feminist reclaims the word and encourages readers to stand up and fight against systemic sexism. Written in an accessible way for young girls and women, the book is a frank look at the issues women face today and the history of the feminist movement. I Am a Feminist is an empowering read for mothers to share with the young women in their lives.
A bubble bath, scented candles, and a good book of poetry – treat mom to Chenille or Silk by Emma McKenna (Caitlin Press/Dagger Editions). This debut collection examines desire, class, and intergenerational trauma while struggling to find belonging, intimacy, and identity. The confessional poems capture the bittersweetness of finding love, stripping bare the beauty and pain of being.
Teresa Wong addresses a subject that many women are too afraid to talk about in Dear Scarlet: The Story of My Postpartum Depression (Arsenal Pulp Press). The moving memoir, in the style of a graphic novel, is an illustration of Wong’s struggle with postpartum depression, formatted as a letter to her daughter Scarlet. A deeply personal story, Dear Scarlet is humorous and heartbreaking, approaching the subject with a sensitivity to how the condition holds its victims in a vice of inadequacy, loss, and desperation.
For the wellness-savvy woman in your life, pick up Hormone Power: Transform Your Diet, Transform Your Life by Marjolein Dubbers (Greystone Books). The vitality expert provides easy-to-follow advice for women on how to take control of their hormones through dietary choices. Dubbers clearly explains how estrogen, thyroid hormones, leptin, and other hormonal systems work in the body, providing a solid scientific foundation to her advice on healthy habits. Incorporating delicious recipes, she debunks diet myths and helps demystify the connection between lifestyle and hormones.
For the poetry lover in your life, give a copy of Near Miss by Laura Matwichuck(Nightwood Editions), a collection that considers contemporary life and its tenuous connections. Capturing the anxiety of a close call through illustrations of disasters – like volcanic eruptions and meteor collisions – as well as everyday mishaps, the poems navigate fragility and unpredictability in modern life. With inventiveness and hopefulness, Matwichuck strings together moments of unease to open up doors to gratitude and contemplation.
Susan E. Lloy’s latest collection of short stories Vita (Now Or Never Publishing) opens up the windows on many lives: a face transplant patient, a woman who decides to learn to surf, a neighbourly dispute. In sketches both tender and angsty, seductive and murderous, Vita collects the lives of many, fragmented into pieces and put back together again. It’s a collection for those interested in the joy and the pain of life, and all the complicated bits in between.