Mamamorphosis
When Renske becomes pregnant she feels like a sorcerer’s apprentice: something big has been set in motion and the outcome is entirely unpredictable. Nevertheless she is confident her body will do what it has to – nature will take its course, or something of the sort. She pictures herself lying on a picknick blanket under a tree with a rosy-cheeked baby, because if she’s completely honest, that’s her idea of family life.
Things don’t go entirely according to plan. There is second trimester depression, doubt, fear, a vacuum-assisted delivery, a strange flap left behind after the stitches have gone, a relationship that is suddenly a three-way thing, and a whole lot more to navigate.
Mamamorphosis is a funny, personal and brutally honest account in words and images about becoming a mother – from the decision to try for children until the baby’s first birthday. A coming-of-age book about the differences between expectations and reality, with drawings of the household chaos of fresh parenthood as well as diagrams depicting, for example, unsolicited pieces of well-intended but useless advice.
“I’m deeply impressed. So beautifully and movingly drawn and written. A fantastic book.’”
“‘Mamamorphosis brings the humour and doubts of motherhood into focus […] and the fact of being torn between laughter and tears. In the passage about the birth her talent not just for jokes but also for writing becomes clear.’”
