The Playgroup

"In her highly acclaimed first book, I Wish Someone Had Told Me, Nina Barrett explained what pregnancy and new maternity are really like, from the point of view of mothers rather than so-called experts. Now she moves on to the highly conflicted emotional and philosophical terrain of motherhood. Without sentimentality, she traces the lives of three young mothers, herself among them, over the two years during which their toddlers were in a playgroup together." "Like many such groups, this one began as a way to stave off the isolation of long days spent alone in cramped apartments with demanding infants. But before long, the women are trading stories of their experiences as daughters, lovers, mothers, and workers - the quilt squares that represent the significant moments in women's lives. And as they take shape they do not form a neat piece of work, but rather a crazy quilt stitched together with impossible expectations, broken promises, and frustrated hopes, and shot through with the unacknowledged, uncompromising chaos of daily life with children." "Their stories crystallize the issues every woman wrestles with - not just staying home versus pursuing a career but the deeper conflicts over such issues as body image, control, autonomy, sexuality, competitiveness, and the balance of marital power that motherhood brings to a boil. In giving them uncensored voice, Barrett offers compassion for every woman who is a mother, priceless insight for every woman who contemplates becoming one, and a powerful treatise for anyone who cares about the future of women and children. This is a profound, honest and ultimately liberating look at the world's oldest profession."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved