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curiousintrovert's review against another edition
5.0
This is a spectacular, funny, vulnerable, clever, poignant, thoughtful memoir. The voice was so strong I felt the author through the pages and was engaged from page 1. Thank you Kathleen. For your heart and your story.
streberkatze's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
I liked the premise of the book — the actual one (a childfree life as a desirable life), not the stated one (the author figuring out if she wanted children, which she had altewdy done at the time of writing) — but all of this could have fit on 100 pages less. I also found that the level of anslysis of certain aspects of being (or not being) a mother in the U.S. felt off balance. Lots and lots of exploration of the "womanhood equals motherhood" issue, no exploration of the economic nightmare parenting is in the paricular nightmare version of late-stage capitalism in the U.S. The author mentions those issues and how they impacted her desicion, but there is no deeper analysis ever. This and the unquestioned adherence to the gender binary made tgis book feel simewhat dated. Also, the words "gal" and "mommy"never fail to make me cringe.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism
Minor: Miscarriage
loribeth1961's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
"The Mother of All Dilemmas: Dreams of Motherhood and the Internship That Changed Everything" by Kathleen Guthrie Woods is a welcome addition to the growing library of books about various aspects of childless/free living. Full disclosure: Kathleen & I have never met -- yet! -- but we "know" each other through the online childless community, including social media.
Entering her 40s without the partner or family she had long dreamed about, Kathleen was contemplating going it alone -- i.e., using donor sperm and insemination to conceive a child -- when fate dropped an opportunity in her lap that she couldn't pass up: an "internship" -- the chance to try single motherhood on for size, by spending two weeks caring for her 15-month-old nephew Jake while his parents went to Italy on vacation.
I really enjoyed this book and learning more about Kathleen's story. I've read lots of books about childlessness over the past 20 years, but this is an aspect of our collective experience that I haven't seen specifically addressed in a book before. I've seen a couple of other books about single motherhood, written by women who took that plunge, are living that life and are offering tips and advice on how you can do it too. Kathleen's story is different because (MILD SPOILER ALERT) she ultimately makes the decision not to go it alone. The book includes the thought process that led her to make the decision she did, and what happened afterward (including the support she found in the online childless community). Interspersed with Kathleen's own experiences are her interviews with other women about their own experiences with motherhood, single motherhood, and childless/free living.
Your own story and path to a permanently childless life may differ from Kathleen's -- but if you are living without the children you had once hoped to have, you will recognize something of yourself in some aspect of Kathleen's story.
Entering her 40s without the partner or family she had long dreamed about, Kathleen was contemplating going it alone -- i.e., using donor sperm and insemination to conceive a child -- when fate dropped an opportunity in her lap that she couldn't pass up: an "internship" -- the chance to try single motherhood on for size, by spending two weeks caring for her 15-month-old nephew Jake while his parents went to Italy on vacation.
I really enjoyed this book and learning more about Kathleen's story. I've read lots of books about childlessness over the past 20 years, but this is an aspect of our collective experience that I haven't seen specifically addressed in a book before. I've seen a couple of other books about single motherhood, written by women who took that plunge, are living that life and are offering tips and advice on how you can do it too. Kathleen's story is different because (MILD SPOILER ALERT) she ultimately makes the decision not to go it alone. The book includes the thought process that led her to make the decision she did, and what happened afterward (including the support she found in the online childless community). Interspersed with Kathleen's own experiences are her interviews with other women about their own experiences with motherhood, single motherhood, and childless/free living.
Your own story and path to a permanently childless life may differ from Kathleen's -- but if you are living without the children you had once hoped to have, you will recognize something of yourself in some aspect of Kathleen's story.
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