Scan barcode
lizawall's review
5.0
This book, man! I did not love everything about it, but I am kind of obsessed with it.
ovenbird_reads's review
5.0
an unbelievably raw and realistic depiction of postpartum depression. A brave admission that intense anger can be a part of the transition to motherhood. Also a hard look at why women need each other during a time of profound transformation. Reading this was an experience in having my own dark night articulated. Highly recommended if you want to delve into how PPD can manifest. I read this book in one sitting. I was riveted.
jktstoll's review
4.0
The writing was amazing but her absolute horror at c-sections and formula was hard to take.
mesauer's review
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
lriopel's review
4.0
I was a little worried this would just be a repeat of "Hausfrau", and they were some similarities in the main characters of both books, but despite the fact that she is excessively blunt, harsh and extremely sarcastic, Ari was much easier for me to like than Anna in "Hausfrau". The ideas of this book were much more focused on the issues that face women - particularly in the areas of childbirth, motherhood and female friendship. I imagine that people will say this is one big feminist rant, and that is definitely in there, but it also manages to inspire a reader to look at these big "female" issues with new eyes and question why our culture is so insistent on keeping women's struggles with birth and motherhood quiet, smoothing them over, prettying them up for public consumption. This novel challenges the culturally expected role of new mothers as joyful and presentable and positive about their experiences by showing us the ugly, difficult, frustrating and disappointing truth of Ari's experience, as well as her rage about what has happened to her. There is a lot to ponder about the consequences of the medical establishment taking away women's power to make decisions about their birth experiences and even scaring them into accepting drastic, unnecessary medical procedures, and how that can have an extreme effect on some women's' psyches - can become a kind of assault or trauma, even when the outcome is medically "good". It gave me a lot to think about. The writing was snappy and the plot and pacing were good. This book probably won't be to everyone's taste, but the issues addressed are important, and for me - I love a good, feminist rant - especially about issues that matter.
jbarr5's review
3.0
After Birth by Elisa Albert
A new mother is trying to find a balance, the new child and family.
Story of a woman who's not found her zen after giving birth. Lives in a college town and works at the co op where they sell fresh vegetables.
She feels out of sorts and friends the neighbors who turn her back onto marijuana which makes her feel more calm and settled.
Relationships she has with other females and talk about Jewish religion.
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).
A new mother is trying to find a balance, the new child and family.
Story of a woman who's not found her zen after giving birth. Lives in a college town and works at the co op where they sell fresh vegetables.
She feels out of sorts and friends the neighbors who turn her back onto marijuana which makes her feel more calm and settled.
Relationships she has with other females and talk about Jewish religion.
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).
amycrea's review
2.0
I really wanted to love this book. It covers topics that deserve to be explored in literature: how difficult life with a newborn can be and the effects of untreated post-partum depression; difficult mother-daughter relationships; problematic female friendships.
But this book is only 194 pages long, and it feels as if the author jammed as much as she could on those themes into one blistering manifesto that ends up being off-putting. The narrator, Ari, is clearly severely depressed after the birth of her son resulted in a C-section. Her anger ends up all over the place--at the baby, her husband (of whom we see little and don't fully understand why they're married), at pretty much every other woman she meets and has met her entire life. It's exhausting and forced and has an abrupt ending that is unearned.
But this book is only 194 pages long, and it feels as if the author jammed as much as she could on those themes into one blistering manifesto that ends up being off-putting. The narrator, Ari, is clearly severely depressed after the birth of her son resulted in a C-section. Her anger ends up all over the place--at the baby, her husband (of whom we see little and don't fully understand why they're married), at pretty much every other woman she meets and has met her entire life. It's exhausting and forced and has an abrupt ending that is unearned.
quietdomino's review
I'm not sorry I read this but I thought it was, as a piece of fiction, rather vile in its smallness and small-mindedness. The narrator's rage, and the lack of plot, smothered all the interesting plot upshoots--legacies of bad mothering (not to mention the Holocaust), the horrifying cruelties of medical sexism, the complexities of adult female friendship--under a heavy blanket of complaint that parenting a newborn is hard. True, but not, in itself, revelatory enough to sustain a narrative as sour as this one.