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Four Mothers
A Year in Motherhood Around the World
Brief Description
'An absorbing, moving, and beautifully composed exploration of motherhood and mothering across the world... a gripping, vital, and utterly compelling book' Elinor Cleghorn, author of Unwell Women AS THE YEAR TURNS, FOUR WOMEN GIVE BIRTH. In Japan, Tsukasa's government-funded hospital room overlooks the mountains and she...
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See moreA brilliantly readable exploration of birth and motherhood, gender and society, told through the experiences of four women across the world
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Description
'An absorbing, moving, and beautifully composed exploration of motherhood and mothering across the world... a gripping, vital, and utterly compelling book'
Elinor Cleghorn, author of Unwell Women
AS THE YEAR TURNS, FOUR WOMEN GIVE BIRTH.
In Japan, Tsukasa's government-funded hospital room overlooks the mountains and she spends seven days there, before resting at her mother's house for a month. The day after giving birth in Kenya, Chelsea returns to her flat in the city, far from her extended family, and her friends help her settle in. Anna, who has already been on maternity leave in Finland for a month, delivers her baby in a midwife-led birth centre, a tradition dating back a century. In America, despite her insurance, Sarah pays $3,000 from her savings for an uncomplicated birth, before heading home, excited and overwhelmed.
Four Mothers follows these women over the next twelve months, through their first year of parenting. Through immersive storytelling and deep reporting, Abigail Leonard brings to life the policies that shape the experiences of both parents and children: access to healthcare and parental leave, community and workplace support.
Both intimate and international, we see what is and what could be.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781399734394
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 08 May 2025
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Sceptre
Illustration: 8—12 b&w illustrations
Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly
DIMENSIONS
Width: 135.0mm
Height: 216.0mm
Weight: 250g
Pages: 288
About the Author
Abigail Leonard is an award-winning international reporter and news producer, currently based in Washington D.C. and before that in Tokyo, where she was a frequent contributor to NPR, Time magazine and New York Times video. Her stories have also appeared in the Washington Post, Newsweek and Vox. Before she moved to Japan, she wrote and produced long-form news documentaries as a staff producer for PBS, ABC and Al Jazeera America. Stories she reported have earned an Overseas Press Club Award, an Association of Health Care Journalists Award, a National Headliner Award, and a James Beard Foundation Media Award Nomination.
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