Child of Mine: Original Essays on Becoming a Mother

by Christina Baker Kline

Child of Mine is a book of original essays that reveal the many faces of motherhood, and which explore the amazing variety of feelings and changes that women go through in the first year of maternity.

The essays--by writers including Susan Cheever, Mona Simpson, Sarah Bird, Naomi Wolf, Meg Wolitzer, and many more--address a wide range of concerns, from changes in your marriage to delivery experiences to body image, to the mother/child bond, to ambivalence about breastfeeding. We see an African-American mother who's conflicted about hiring a Jamaican baby-sitter; we see an urban working mom who's delighted to be back to her job after maternity leave; we see a mother's nightmare journey through a year of her son's colic. And we see the adoption experience with all its ups and downs.

Covering an amazing breadth of experience, readers will recognize themselves as they discover that other mothers have felt the same emotions, cried the same tears, thrilled to similar milestones, and suffered the same indignities and heartaches in that challenging first year of motherhood.

Genres: Nonfiction, Parenting, Essays, Memoir, Short Stories

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

A #1 New York Times bestselling author of eight novels, including The Exiles, Orphan Train, and A Piece of the World, Christina Baker Kline is published in 40 countries. Her novels have received the New England Prize for Fiction, the Maine Literary Award, and a Barnes & Noble Discover Award, among other prizes, and have been chosen by hundreds of communities, universities and schools as “One Book, One Read” selections. Her essays, articles, and reviews have appeared in publications such as the New York Times and the NYT Book Review, the Boston Globe, the San Francisco Chronicle, LitHub, Psychology Today, Poets & Writers, and Salon.

Born in England and raised in the American South and Maine, Kline is a graduate of Yale (B.A.), Cambridge (M.A.) and the University of Virginia (M.F.A.), where she was a Hoyns Fellow in Fiction Writing. A resident of New York City and Southwest Harbor, Maine, she serves on the advisory boards of the Center for Fiction (NY), the Jesup Library (Bar Harbor, ME), the Montclair Literary Festival (NJ), the Kauai Writers Festival (HI), and Roots & Wings (NJ), and on the gala committees of Poets & Writers (NY), The Authors Guild (NY) and Friends of Acadia (ME). She is an Artist-Mentor for StudioDuke at Duke University and the BookEnds program at Stony Brook University.

Reviews

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some hit or miss essays ... but the ones that connected did so on a deep level. I appreciated the honesty and candor of these writers as they reveal some of their dark thoughts and feelings about reconciling their former selves and their new role as mother.

[Amy Field · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoughtful and rich reflections on what changes when one becomes a mother, from pregnancy to birth to nursing (or not!), to the fullness of being the mom, whether biological or non-gestational. Even though this is now a few decades old the issues are the same. Worth a read if for nothing else than recognizing the sameness of feeling gorgeously described in many of these short pieces.

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although this was an interesting, and somewhat insightful read, I would not necessarily recommend it. I am positive that there are many mothers who experience these extreme lows of pregnancy and motherhood, and I appreciate the authors' attempt to bring to light the difficult issues when all of the other pregnancy books are so sugar-coated. However, I would recommend it almost as a reference book for mothers who indeed find themselves in these extreme circumstances; it's kind of a bummer if your pregnancy and motherhood experiences really are exceptional.

[Bree · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my second time reading this book of essays. The first time I read it, I didn’t yet have my newborn, so a lot of the works didn’t really it home for me. Now that my daughter is a Toddler, I can really relate, laugh and cry with some of these stories.

Not all of them are 5 stars but the few that really hit home, I will always cherish.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this. Female writers share very open, honest essays about their experiences of motherhood, things women often don't talk or write about.

[Dana Schmidt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some very relatable essays here. Refreshing look at motherhood from many angles.

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like Christina Baker Kline's writing, so I was curious about a book of essays that she edited, although a little weary about the sappiness factor in a book about becoming a mother. It was actually really good and more interesting than I thought it would be. I don't think I would give this as a baby shower gift, but a mom passed the 6-month time frame would probably enjoy it. There was one woman who I thought made a good point that parenting is tiring, because it's like hosting your own party. It's fun, you have a good time, but there is an underlying responsibility that you're in charge and if something bad happens, you've still got to be upbeat.

[Jacki · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a collection of essays on the first year of motherhood. It touches on colic, breastfeeding, labor envy, and all the other things that suddenly are thrust into our story as children come to our family. I loved the variety of voices on what kind of mother you can be, as well as emphasizing the myriad of experiences woman can have. A great read, a great gift for new mothers.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was pretty great. I breezed through it in a day...pretty relevant now...however it was lacking in some "mommy types"...single mothers, unwed mothers, non-white women...happy women...but overall it is really good. Will probably become my standard baby shower gift.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

i read this when my children were quite young and found it to be a sweet collection of essays that resonated with my own journey into motherhood. endearing and very genuine.

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoying hearing the varying perspectives from the different mothers. Helped me appreciate that parenting truly isn't one size fits all

[Sheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

As every pregnant woman must, I started to have my doubts about myself as a mother. As much as I've always wanted children, and have seen myself as a good mother, the overwhelming sense of fear engulfed me in the start of my second trimester. The very thought of someone feeling about me and depending upon me the way I STILL feel and depend on my own mother was terrifying.

Enter Child of Mine. I devoured this book in about a day and a half, learning about motherhood, NEW motherhood, from women who had been there; women from backgrounds similar and opposite of mine. Yet, in all their stories, I found a sense of calm. Here was a set of stories that didn't candy-coat pregnancy and motherhood the way everyone around me was doing. (I think it's the rosy remembrances of pregnancy and motherhood!)

All in all, this was the right book at the right time, and I can't recommend it highly enough.