Matrescence

A New Statesman and Daily Mail BOOK OF THE YEAR'The best book I've ever read about motherhood' Jude Rogers, Observer'I kept scribbling in the margins: 'We need to know this stuff!'' Joanna Pocock, SpectatorA radical new examination of the transition into motherhood and how it affects the mind, brain and bodyDuring pregnancy, childbirth, and early motherhood, women undergo a far-reaching physiological, psychological and social metamorphosis.There is no other time in a human's life course that entails such dramatic change-other than adolescence. And yet this life-altering transition has been sorely neglected by science, medicine and philosophy. Its seismic effects go largely unrepresented across literature and the arts. Speaking about motherhood as anything other than a pastel-hued dream remains, for the most part, taboo.In this ground-breaking, deeply personal investigation, acclaimed journalist and author Lucy Jones brings to light the emerging concept of 'matrescence'. Drawing on new research across various fields - neuroscience and evolutionary biology; psychoanalysis and existential therapy; sociology, economics and ecology - Jones shows how the changes in the maternal mind, brain and body are far more profound, wild and enduring than we have been led to believe. She reveals the dangerous consequences of our neglect of the maternal experience and interrogates the patriarchal and capitalist systems that have created the untenable situation mothers face today.Here is an urgent examination of the modern institution of motherhood, which seeks to unshackle all parents from oppressive social norms. As it deepens our understanding of matrescence, it raises vital questions about motherhood and femininity; interdependence and individual identity; as well as about our relationships with each other and the living world.

A thrilling examination of what it means to be a mother … Myths are smashed from page one … essential reading, roaring and ready to change conversations, I kept scribbling in the margins: 'We need to know this stuff!' ... wide-ranging in its scope, packed with statistics … comes as close as it’s possible to describing this indescribable moment in a woman’s life, Reading this, I felt a jolt of recognition ... I wish someone could have handed me Matrescence, This deeply personal book takes on “fairytale” ideas about being a mother … An exploration of motherhood – the contrast between myth and reality and between individual and social expectations ... Jones writes beautifully and with searing honesty about the life-changing physical and emotional impact of having a child, She is a gifted writer … A vital, hopeful book ... to read Matrescence is to emerge chastened and ready for change

Lucy Jones is a writer and journalist based in Hampshire, England. She previously worked at NME and the Daily Telegraph, and her writing on culture, science and nature has been published in GQ, BBC Wildlife, The Sunday Times, the Guardian and the New Statesman. She is the author of Foxes Unearthed, which won the Society of Authors' Roger Deakin Award 2015; Losing Eden, which was long-listed for the Wainwright Prize and named a Times and Telegraph book of the year; and Matrescence, ‘a thrilling examination of what it means to be a mother’ (Observer), which has been longlisted for the inaugural Women’s Prize for Nonfiction.