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Story of Your Mother
What if we consider motherhood an organizing principle instead of a genre or subject? In her debut book of essays, Chantal Braganza explores the space where identity and motherhood meet. For fans of Dionne Brand, Maggie Nelson, Leslie Jamison, Jacqueline Rose, and Sloane Crosley.
How do we tell our children who they are when we're still struggling to find that language to describe ourselves? Journalist Chantal Braganza, who once thought of herself as "an assemblage of parts," reflects on her upbringing as a daughter of Mexican and Indian immigrants while raising her own multiracial sons. She explores what shapes identity, and the things we reach for as we search for our family's place in the world.
Engaging with a unique structural style, Braganza weaves dreamlike memoir sections of her childhood—some memories, some myths passed down from her family in Vallarta, Mombasa, London, and Toronto—with urgent essays about identity. She wrangles with the limits of language—finding that even fluency doesn't guarantee the ability to translate something for your children.
The questions that emerges Can we believe the people who have given us the story of who we are? And how do we, responsibly, craft that story for our own children?
How do we tell our children who they are when we're still struggling to find that language to describe ourselves? Journalist Chantal Braganza, who once thought of herself as "an assemblage of parts," reflects on her upbringing as a daughter of Mexican and Indian immigrants while raising her own multiracial sons. She explores what shapes identity, and the things we reach for as we search for our family's place in the world.
Engaging with a unique structural style, Braganza weaves dreamlike memoir sections of her childhood—some memories, some myths passed down from her family in Vallarta, Mombasa, London, and Toronto—with urgent essays about identity. She wrangles with the limits of language—finding that even fluency doesn't guarantee the ability to translate something for your children.
The questions that emerges Can we believe the people who have given us the story of who we are? And how do we, responsibly, craft that story for our own children?
- GenresEssaysNonfiction
192 pages, Hardcover
Published April 8, 2025
4 people are currently reading
2308 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 28, 2026
forewarning i aint know shit about motherhood
“There are too many ways to exist as a mother to call it a universal experience; we are better off finding ways to make its many universal languages useful in order to understand each other”
In sharing her experience with motherhood, and the dissecting of her own origins, I felt the unfurling of these languages, giving way to understanding into a subject that, at its surface, is virtually impenetrable for someone like me. I felt very strongly as well that the author rightfully honoured the previous generations of mothers in her life.
Review as per my own reading goals:
Amil Niazi’s Life After Ambition felt more like a homie sharing with you their experience of career and life before/during motherhood over lunch, invoking a more emotional response to the subject that breeds understanding by virtue of emotional resonance. A book that honoured motherhood through its raw honesty and the truth in its bite.
This books feels like a more literarily-engaged approach to motherhood, as a function of our origins, and in breaking down the nature of motherhood in preceding generations.
Ultimately both books arrive at a conclusion arguing that the modern mother shouldn’t have to choose between being, and mothering. That motherhood is not the end of being and the beginning of being a mother, it is a transformation that reforms the entirety of your relationship with the world. In both books we arrive at a clearer picture of what it means to mother in the modern age. I think these two are a perfect reading pair tbh.
“There are too many ways to exist as a mother to call it a universal experience; we are better off finding ways to make its many universal languages useful in order to understand each other”
In sharing her experience with motherhood, and the dissecting of her own origins, I felt the unfurling of these languages, giving way to understanding into a subject that, at its surface, is virtually impenetrable for someone like me. I felt very strongly as well that the author rightfully honoured the previous generations of mothers in her life.
Review as per my own reading goals:
Amil Niazi’s Life After Ambition felt more like a homie sharing with you their experience of career and life before/during motherhood over lunch, invoking a more emotional response to the subject that breeds understanding by virtue of emotional resonance. A book that honoured motherhood through its raw honesty and the truth in its bite.
This books feels like a more literarily-engaged approach to motherhood, as a function of our origins, and in breaking down the nature of motherhood in preceding generations.
Ultimately both books arrive at a conclusion arguing that the modern mother shouldn’t have to choose between being, and mothering. That motherhood is not the end of being and the beginning of being a mother, it is a transformation that reforms the entirety of your relationship with the world. In both books we arrive at a clearer picture of what it means to mother in the modern age. I think these two are a perfect reading pair tbh.
May 13, 2025
“𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘉𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯: 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘖𝘳 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳: 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦.”
Chantal Braganza’s writing immediately stood out to me—there’s something unique and compelling in the way she expresses herself. Her prose is thoughtful, poetic, and often beautifully layered with insight.
There are lines that genuinely stopped me in my tracks, offering reflections on parenthood I hadn’t heard or considered before. Those moments were deeply affecting and, at times, even awe-inspiring.
“𝘓𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦; 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦; 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦; 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦. 𝘛𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵—𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦, 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺.”
However, the structure of the book felt somewhat scattered. The narrative jumps through time and people in a way that occasionally made it difficult to follow or find a clear timeline. I often wished for a stronger thread to hold onto.
Still, 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘔𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 is a moving and honest memoir about the emotional complexities of motherhood, loss, and identity. If you enjoy lyrical, introspective nonfiction, this one might be worth exploring.
Many thanks to @penguinrandomhousecanada for the review copy provided via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
April 6, 2025
Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for an advance copy of Story Of Your Mother.
For a man, I believe I am emotional, nostalgic, don’t mind a bit of romance and try to understand and care about the other genders world. However, I don’t think this book was meant for me. There were lots of sections about child parent relationships that I could connect with, but, many that are really about mother and child.
The second concern I have with this book is it is quite short. It is 180 IPad pages, which is already short. But, with many, many short chapters and only half a page or less used at the end of each chapter, I can safely call this a novella.
The third concern is the fact that this is a series of essays, that loosely fit together, each chapter was put together in ways that did not seamlessly fit together. In fact, one could say, it was all over the place. I do think she was trying to put together a bunch of seemingly unrelated parts to represent how she felt as someone made up of many parts, but it didn’t totally work.
I will say, this is poetically written, although a number of grammatical and word errors did hurt the delivery at times.
I believe there will be moms who relate to this book, but overall it was not for me.
For a man, I believe I am emotional, nostalgic, don’t mind a bit of romance and try to understand and care about the other genders world. However, I don’t think this book was meant for me. There were lots of sections about child parent relationships that I could connect with, but, many that are really about mother and child.
The second concern I have with this book is it is quite short. It is 180 IPad pages, which is already short. But, with many, many short chapters and only half a page or less used at the end of each chapter, I can safely call this a novella.
The third concern is the fact that this is a series of essays, that loosely fit together, each chapter was put together in ways that did not seamlessly fit together. In fact, one could say, it was all over the place. I do think she was trying to put together a bunch of seemingly unrelated parts to represent how she felt as someone made up of many parts, but it didn’t totally work.
I will say, this is poetically written, although a number of grammatical and word errors did hurt the delivery at times.
I believe there will be moms who relate to this book, but overall it was not for me.
May 17, 2025
Story of Your Mother by Chantal Braganza
Thanks to the ALC program by @librofm I was able to connect with Braganza’s debut book of essays and go through it with love and gratitude.
How I adored “The Idea of an Origin” it was so real and inspiring. There’s so much truth in her words, I found myself in this one.
When I Was The Age You Are Now hit me hard. How can one put words to feelings that are too deep to express? This essay is such a jewel.
It’s Disorienting and Frightening is certainly one of the most heartfelt essays I have ever read. Thank your for putting into words so much.
The Autumn After Your Brother Was Born! Jesus Christ! I have no words for this essay!
Favorite quote:
♥️“ I was so divorced from the sound of my own voice that for a few terrible moments I heard screams that seemed to come from some foreign, animal place without realizing they were coming from my own throat. Alien, untranslatable, even to myself”♥️
♥️“The more languages, the more ways to understand one another, the better we all get along.”♥️
♥️“Biology is so unkind to mothers, not allowing their children to recall the times we were closest to them.”♥️
I absolutely loved every stop on this journey and I highly recommend this book! It’s a jewel!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Thanks to the ALC program by @librofm I was able to connect with Braganza’s debut book of essays and go through it with love and gratitude.
How I adored “The Idea of an Origin” it was so real and inspiring. There’s so much truth in her words, I found myself in this one.
When I Was The Age You Are Now hit me hard. How can one put words to feelings that are too deep to express? This essay is such a jewel.
It’s Disorienting and Frightening is certainly one of the most heartfelt essays I have ever read. Thank your for putting into words so much.
The Autumn After Your Brother Was Born! Jesus Christ! I have no words for this essay!
Favorite quote:
♥️“ I was so divorced from the sound of my own voice that for a few terrible moments I heard screams that seemed to come from some foreign, animal place without realizing they were coming from my own throat. Alien, untranslatable, even to myself”♥️
♥️“The more languages, the more ways to understand one another, the better we all get along.”♥️
♥️“Biology is so unkind to mothers, not allowing their children to recall the times we were closest to them.”♥️
I absolutely loved every stop on this journey and I highly recommend this book! It’s a jewel!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
July 2, 2025
If I were able to write a book, it would be this book. I feel like the centre of the Venn diagram of this book is me. I’m so lucky to have stumbled across this new book which is a series of short essays/vignettes/meditations on new motherhood, the idea of origin, language, family, and so much more, while myself 3.5 months postpartum. The author engages with and responds to writings by some of my favourite thinkers (including Dionne Brand). The whole time I read it, I kept thinking how much I related to everything the author said (not just about motherhood, but everything) and how much I want to read this book again. I love reading books written by Toronto writers as I find the familiarity delicious. Would def recommend this book-bonus is it’s short and a very fast read!
June 19, 2025
This book does what so many others strive and fail to do, to capture the way mothering feels at the line level, and in the heart. The way Chantal weaves her personal story with the cultural experience of motherhood is truly art. We are so lucky to get to read writing by so many smart women writing about parenting right now!
October 7, 2025
A short book of very short pieces (some less than a page) about life and motherhood and children. It felt a bit disjointed and random
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews