ovenbird_reads 's review for:

To Have and to Hold: Motherhood, Marriage, and the Modern Dilemma by Molly Millwood

5.0

---

This is a book about motherhood in the context of (heterosexual) marriage, and while these pages explore only this one iteration of what it means to experience parenthood and marriage, it explores that iteration better than perhaps any book I've read yet. I felt seen in these pages in a profound way and also deeply uncomfortable. There are some painful truths here but also a path forward in terms of what it means to make sense of a life that is completely upended by becoming a mother. Millwood doesn't offer any easy solutions to either parenting or marriage struggles, but she does make certain to expose all the dark places the mind might wander after having a baby and put them in a context that allows you to understand the foundations of the struggle itself. If nothing else a lot of mothers are going to feel profoundly validated after reading this.