Single Mothering

After being dumped, Mia is officially a single mother. Just when she thinks the dust has settled from her breakup, she's thrust into a confusing whirlwind of slightly useless friendships, exhaustion, therapy, cathartic playgroup daydreaming sessions, and eventually, the terrifying world of online dating. Anna Härmälä's semi-autobiographical comic vignettes offer a candid (and often hilarious) portrayal of the ups and downs of single parenthood as she discovers how to piece herself back together while raising a tiny human alone on very little sleep.

Härmälä's Single Mothering is an honest and funny reveal of the cult of motherhood and parenting. With a colourful and emotive drawing style, the book tells a deeply relatable story of expectations and grief when things do not work out as one planned. I loved the read and it filled me with empathy for anyone having to do single mothering, be it for a short period of time or for longer, out of choice or not., Anna Härmälä's visually stunning, emotionally unflinching graphic memoir SingleMothering is a marvel. Härmälä has an extraordinary sense of pacing, interspersing funny and poignant shorter observations with longer vignettes to take the reader through the experience of her first year as a mother. Härmälä's sumptuous illustrations pair well with her storytelling, and Single Mothering is a beautiful window into the life of a new mom, a single mother, as well as the life of a Scandinavian parent. Moms, single or not, will enjoy this gorgeously illustrated memoir of becoming a mother., As a mother (who almost forgot to write this blurb because mothering is a full-time job), this book made me want to reach out to all the other exhausted moms and give them a hug (and this book)

Anna Härmälä grew up in Vantaa near Helsinki and always knew she was going to work in the arts. Her parents encouraged her interest by allowing her to try out theatre and arts clubs. Later she studied art and visual communication in Finland and Norway, and she has an MA from Bergen Academy of Art and Design. She has also written and illustrated several picture books published in Finland and Sweden, and has been head of her school's art department for more than ten years. She started sharing her comics online to see if they resonated with the experience of other single mothers, but this is her first graphic novel.