MOTHERHOOD IN ALL ITS FORMS: A READING LIST FOR REFLECTION AND HEALING
Motherhood is not one story.
For some, it brings joy, connection, and purpose. For others, it’s a source of grief, longing, complexity, or even pain. And for many, it’s all of those things at once.
Whether you’re a mother, hope to be one, have lost a mother, are healing from a difficult relationship with yours, or have chosen a different path entirely—your experience matters. This reading list attempts to offer thoughtful, honest perspectives on motherhood in all its forms.
These are books, essays, poems, and quotes that speak to the emotional depth of motherhood—its beauty, its sorrow, and the ways it shapes our lives, whether directly or indirectly. If you have another resource to add to our list to include more voices, we welcome your contribution, please reach out.
📘 MEMOIRS & ESSAYS
These memoirs and essays offer intimate reflections on motherhood from many angles—joyful, ambivalent, overwhelmed, grieving, and fiercely honest.
• Adrienne Rich – Of Woman Born (1976)
A feminist classic that explores the difference between the personal experience of mothering and the societal pressures of motherhood.
• Rachel Cusk – A Life’s Work (2001)
An unvarnished, sometimes startling look at early motherhood, identity, and how becoming a parent can feel like losing parts of yourself.
• Joan Didion – Blue Nights (2011)
A quiet, devastating reflection on the death of her daughter and the fragility of memory, aging, and motherhood.
• Anne Lamott – “I Hate Mother’s Day” (Salon, 2010)
A beautifully candid piece that speaks to the many people who find this holiday painful or alienating.
👉 Read it here
• Angela Garbes – Like a Mother (2018)
A blend of science and personal story that rethinks what we’re told about pregnancy, labor, and care work.
• Meaghan O’Connell – And Now We Have Everything (2018)
A memoir of becoming a mother before feeling ready—equal parts funny, anxious, and tender.
• Jessica Grose – Screaming on the Inside (2022)
A look at the cultural contradictions of modern motherhood, and how unrealistic expectations are leaving many parents burnt out.
📰 ARTICLES THAT STAY WITH YOU
These pieces speak to the pressures, contradictions, and emotional realities of motherhood in today’s world.
• Kim Brooks – “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Mom” (New York Times, 2014)
On the challenge of holding space for creativity and ambition while mothering.
👉 Read it
• Jia Tolentino – “The Hazards of the New Anti-Motherhood” (New Yorker, 2021)
An insightful critique of how even progressive narratives can oversimplify what it means to be a parent.
👉 Read it
• Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – “Notes on Grief” (New Yorker, 2020)
A moving meditation on the loss of a parent and the disorienting silence that follows.
👉 Read it
📚 FICTION & SHORT STORIES
These literary works offer insights into motherhood from various lenses—historical, personal, and metaphorical.
• Toni Morrison – Beloved (1987)
A profound story of maternal love, trauma, and the aftermath of slavery.
• Tillie Olsen – “I Stand Here Ironing” (1961)
A short story about a mother looking back on her daughter’s childhood, full of regret, realism, and tenderness.
• Grace Paley – “The Used-Boy Raisers” (1972)
A feminist, funny, and poignant take on raising children amid unconventional family structures.
📖 POETRY
These poems speak to the many forms of maternal connection.
• Sylvia Plath – “Morning Song”
A tender yet detached poem about the early days of motherhood.
• Sharon Olds – from The Unswept Room and Stag’s Leap
Unflinching and bodily, Olds explores motherhood with nuance and emotional depth.
• Naomi Shihab Nye – “Shoulders”
A quiet metaphor for caregiving and intergenerational love.
• Luci Tapahonso – “Remember the Things They Told Us”
A lyrical honoring of cultural memory and maternal wisdom.
• Toi Derricotte – “The Grandmother Poems”
A series of intimate portraits that weave together motherhood, history, and Black womanhood.
• Nikki Giovanni – “Mothers”
Reflects on childhood, legacy, and the intimacy of remembering your mother.
💬 QUOTES ON MOTHERHOOD
“There’s no way to be a perfect mother and a million ways to be a good one.”
— Jill Churchill
“Being a mother is an attitude, not a biological relation.”
— Robert A. Heinlein
“My mother is a poem I’ll never be able to write.”
— Sharon Doubiago
“Sometimes the strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws.”
— Barbara Kingsolver
“Motherhood: All love begins and ends there.”
— Robert Browning
🌼 A NOTE FOR MOTHER’S DAY (OR ANY DAY)
Mother’s Day isn’t easy for everyone. Maybe it’s joyful for you. Maybe it’s complicated. Maybe it hurts.
This list isn’t just about mothers—it’s about the wide range of emotions, stories, and experiences that ripple around the idea of motherhood. If something here resonates, we hope it helps you feel more grounded, more seen, and a little less alone.
If you’d like to talk through your experience—past, present, or in the making—we’re here, please reach out.
