A review by kayliesbookshelf
My Work by Olga Ravn

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I was trying to decide on what book to read next when my intuition told me I needed to pick up Olga Ravn’s My Work. Do you ever pick up a book at the time you most need it? That’s exactly what happened to me and I’m incredibly grateful that I read My Work when I did.

Being a new mum myself, and one who struggles with GAD, postpartum depression, and intense scary thoughts, My Work made me feel seen; finally someone gets me. Not only is Ravn’s writing emotional and raw, it is insightful and brutally honest. Motherhood is both spectacular and perplexing: a true paradox that Ravn captures in My Work.

As an avid reader and someone who finds writing, especially poetry, cathartic, I saw myself in Anna who is desperately trying to find herself again through reading and writing while also acclimatizing to motherhood. The identity shift that happens when becoming a mother is astounding. My identity shift didn’t last as long as other mums I know but from speaking to other mums out there, the change can be debilitating. 

Anna takes the reader on an exploration of pregnancy, motherhood, postpartum, mental illness, and identity (among other themes) through poems, journal entries, essays, and stunning prose. While Anna’s story isn’t set up in a chronological timeline or as a traditional novel, the reader will still be able to follow her story with ease as she documents becoming a mother and the struggles she experiences, along with sharing her writing throughout My Work. I’m forever grateful for this read and Olga for writing it. This is one that I won’t soon forget.

“Dear everybody, / I’m so sad, and come to think of it, I don’t even know what qualifications I have.”

“The fact that she could protect the child against the elements, could get him home safely, could read him and understand his symptoms and carry him - all that filled her with joy.”