Sometimes the exact right book comes along at the exact right time, and you know you’re going to love it. When I read the description of this book (and saw that Alice Neel cover!) I knew it was going to be excellent—and it was. Phillips deftly blends scholarly research, personal anecdotes, and biography to try to answer the question: how does one sustain creativity in motherhood? If you can’t have a room of one’s own, are you forced to stick the baby on the fire escape?

This book doesn’t offer any easy answers to those questions. Instead, it deftly traces the lives of several female artists, writers, and thinkers, looking at their experiences of motherhood. Ultimately, the book is a celebration of both mothering and creativity, arguing persuasively that both are worth pursuing, however difficult the task may be. Pair this with the excellent novel Nightbitch for the best baby shower present for the writer/artist in your life.

I enjoyed the intro to this but didn’t get super far. I think it was just a bit heavy for my current lifestyle of being a young creative mother lol. It should be my book of choice but I’m not sure I’m ready to hear everything against me when I’m in the midst of that life chapter.

The Baby on the Fire Escape : Creativity, Motherhood, and the Mind-Baby Problem by Julie Phillips explores the motherhood experience of various artists and writers, some of whom I was more familiar with than others.

I LOVED The Baby On The Fire Escape. It took me three solid weeks from start to finish, but I always looked forward to picking it up at the end of the day.
It's an interesting hybrid - part group biography, part feminist theory and tiny bits of veiled memoir. I liked how the structure and organization of the book felt pressed onto a story and subject that is inherently more unwieldy, but
I can see some readers wanting something more straightforward and less dense and academic. I enjoyed and copiously highlighted the deep dive into the notion of the hero-mother, the motherhood plot line, and mother as subject, but those unfamiliar with feminist criticism might be confused by all the lenses/theories.
I didn't know enough about any of the women and really enjoyed the short but detailed biographical profiles, though I was confused why some women were heavily mentioned (Elizabeth Smart) but not given a whole chapter/profile.
I will definitely recommend this to readers who I think have the literary chops and interest to really dig in and enjoy it!