POSTPARTUM POSTMORTEM

By Amy Teal

Jordan had always felt, perhaps because she'd always been told, that she would make a great mother one day. She'd always leaned into her maternal proclivities: doting on those younger than herself, adoring her siblings. It was once she had a child, after years of youthful ambivalence, that she discovered how abstracted her concept of motherhood had always been. Jordan realizes almost instantly that this child was not going to change her life, as was the inadequate warning of everyone well-meaning, rather, this child was going to change her-- deeply, irreversibly. We follow Jordan down a dark, satirical path through (probably unnecessary) hospital visits, breastfeeding woes, a wilting love for her husband, a grieving of her past self as a new one clumsily and reluctantly stumbles forth. Her uncertainty with her new life is heightened when she moves to France five months postpartum to accompany her husband to business school, ratifying the process of removing herself entirely from her past. It is here, against the backdrop of culture shock and a language barrier, where she becomes evermore introverted, recollecting lost versions and forsaken truths about her upbringing, her relationship with her own mother and the world at large. Emily, Jordan's best friend and mother-of-three, seems the constant source of inspiration and courage for Jordan when the world turns temporarily demented and untrustworthy. Emily's story, which reflects on her harrowing experience of childhood neglect and domestic abuse, shows how redemptive and uncompromising a mother's love can be. The novel hopes to destigmatize maternal depression and grant expectant mothers and new mothers an empathetic nod as to how heavy, joyful, disgusting, impossible, and how grievously profound, that is, the journey into motherhood.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0D9DN3T4D
• ISBN13: 9798332582509
• Release Date: July 2024
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 308 Pages
• Weight: 1.03 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.8" x 5.5"