The Motherhood Affidavits
A Memoir
by Laura Jean Baker
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Pub Date Apr 03 2018 | Archive Date May 01 2018
Experiment, The | The Experiment
Description
A prodigious talent blazes onto the American literary scene with this bold, original memoir of her perilous—yet life-saving—addiction to childbearing
With the birth of her first child, Laura Jean Baker found herself electrified by oxytocin, the “love drug”—the first effective antidote to her lifelong depression. Again and again over the next eight years, Baker finds herself craving the intense highs of childbearing—cravings that, she realizes, align her much more closely with her public defender husband’s desperate, drug-addled clients than with their middle-class peers. As Ryan’s roster of defendants increases, so too does their family—nearly to the point of collapse.
Brilliantly crafted, impeccably written, intensely personal, The Motherhood Affidavits portrays a woman, a marriage, a family, caught in an impossible bind. Its heartbreaking resolution raises profound questions about whether we, as a society, are governed by morals or by laws—and whether either is an adequate measure of any one person’s ability to parent and capacity for love.
Advance Praise
“Laura Jean Baker has written a beautiful and brave memoir of motherhood and its discontents, which are indistinguishable from its joys. This is a warmly intimate yet intellectually provocative personal document of originality and considerable charm.”—Joyce Carol Oates
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781615194391 |
| PRICE | $24.95 (USD) |
| PAGES | 288 |
Featured Reviews
Lindsey E, Librarian
I received an ARC of The Motherhood Affidavits by Laura Jean Baker in exchange for a honest review. Baker’s memoir is a raw and truthful portrayal of the ongoing struggles of balancing marriage, motherhood, and career. She paints a vivid picture of the emotional highs and lows women face between having more children versus the financial reality and sacrifices that every parent faces with these difficult decisions. She expertly weaves the details of her husband’s law career and clientele with the struggles she faces with her career, motherhood, and depression. I highly recommend Baker’s memoir!
Laurie K, Media/Journalist
A great read about the power of hope. I loved it and I would recommend it.
Concetta K, Librarian
A philosophical book written by someone who is addicted to being pregnant because oxytocin, the hormone released in large quantities into pregnant women's bodies, makes her happy and gives her relief from her life-long struggle with depression. This addiction is a stress to her husband who struggles to pay the bills on his salary as a court appointed defense lawyer. Ms. Baker recounts some of her husband's clients and court cases, many of them drug addicts. She questions whether she is any different than these drug-addicted clients when her own addiction is causing chaos in her own life. The cases she describes are interesting as is the correlation between herself and her husband's clients. Ms. Baker's honesty concerning her home life is amazing. There are things she says that I just wouldn't put in writing for all the world to see. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it to anyone who contemplates class differences.
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