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Four Mothers: An Intimate Journey through the First Year of Parenthood in Four Countries
In the tradition of Lisa Taddeo’s Three Women and Robert Kolker’s Hidden Valley Road, Abigail Leonard's immersive, page-turning narrative follows four women from around the world as they embark on the transformative first year of motherhood.
Tsukasa in Japan grapples with memories of a difficult childhood as she tries to chart a new, healthier path for her own daughter while balancing onerous cultural expectations. Chelsea in Kenya endures a devastating loss just before she gives birth and finds that without the traditional support of previous generations, motherhood can be grueling – but it can also provide emotional healing. Anna in Finland navigates a complicated relationship with her child’s father, but the country’s robust family policies allow her to still pursue the kind of parenthood that she envisioned. Sarah in the US leaves the religious community that raised her in order to create a less traditional family of her own only to find she’s largely confronting motherhood alone.
Utterly moving and propulsively readable from page one, Leonard interweaves these stories with a critically researched exploration of how parental support programs evolved in each country—and why some provide more help than others. As nations around the world debate programs like paid leave, universal daycare, reproductive healthcare, and family tax incentives, Four Mothers offers a uniquely intimate, moving portrait of what those policies mean for parents on the ground—and considers what modern families really want.
Tsukasa in Japan grapples with memories of a difficult childhood as she tries to chart a new, healthier path for her own daughter while balancing onerous cultural expectations. Chelsea in Kenya endures a devastating loss just before she gives birth and finds that without the traditional support of previous generations, motherhood can be grueling – but it can also provide emotional healing. Anna in Finland navigates a complicated relationship with her child’s father, but the country’s robust family policies allow her to still pursue the kind of parenthood that she envisioned. Sarah in the US leaves the religious community that raised her in order to create a less traditional family of her own only to find she’s largely confronting motherhood alone.
Utterly moving and propulsively readable from page one, Leonard interweaves these stories with a critically researched exploration of how parental support programs evolved in each country—and why some provide more help than others. As nations around the world debate programs like paid leave, universal daycare, reproductive healthcare, and family tax incentives, Four Mothers offers a uniquely intimate, moving portrait of what those policies mean for parents on the ground—and considers what modern families really want.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published May 6, 2025
51 people are currently reading
3206 people want to read
About the author
Abigail Leonard
2 books7 followersAbigail Leonard is an international reporter and news producer, previously based in Tokyo, where she was a frequent contributor to NPR, Time Magazine, and New York Times video. Before moving to Japan, she wrote and produced news documentaries as a staff producer for PBS, ABC and Al Jazeera America. Stories she reported have earned an Overseas Press Club Award, a National Headliner Award, an Award for Excellence in Health Care Journalism and a James Beard Media Award Nomination. She now lives in Washington DC with her husband and three children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
September 8, 2025
Journalistic, narrative nonfiction following four women through the first year of motherhood in four countries: Japan, the U.S., Kenya, and Finland. It was inspired by the author’s very different experiences as a mother in Japan and the U.S., and with the focus mostly on the stories, it nonetheless provides a powerful look at how policy as well as culture shapes people’s environment and the kinds of choices they have the freedom to make. For that reason I think it is a strong choice for anyone interested in the policy aspect, though the narratives are also engaging and highly readable.
My big-picture takeaway is that Finland really does seem to have it all figured out, while Kenya is still working on it and Japan and the U.S. have almost inverse problems. Mothers in Japan get a lot of support for being mothers (a year of maternity leave, all hospital costs covered, public daycare centers), but are also expected to be nothing but mothers (it’s hard for mothers to get back into the workforce, while the intense work culture makes it equally hard for fathers to contribute in any way other than the financial, and the whole notion of babysitting is frowned upon). Whereas mothers in the U.S. are allowed and usually expected to work, but get no support (childbirth is expensive and childcare downright exorbitant—as it turns out, this is in large part because private equity has gotten into the daycare business and makes major campaign contributions to politicians voting against public daycare). Whereas in Finland, the wealth of government supports clearly makes for less stressful choices and healthier families, even when dealing with events (like the parents breaking up) that could lead to major crisis elsewhere.
My big-picture takeaway is that Finland really does seem to have it all figured out, while Kenya is still working on it and Japan and the U.S. have almost inverse problems. Mothers in Japan get a lot of support for being mothers (a year of maternity leave, all hospital costs covered, public daycare centers), but are also expected to be nothing but mothers (it’s hard for mothers to get back into the workforce, while the intense work culture makes it equally hard for fathers to contribute in any way other than the financial, and the whole notion of babysitting is frowned upon). Whereas mothers in the U.S. are allowed and usually expected to work, but get no support (childbirth is expensive and childcare downright exorbitant—as it turns out, this is in large part because private equity has gotten into the daycare business and makes major campaign contributions to politicians voting against public daycare). Whereas in Finland, the wealth of government supports clearly makes for less stressful choices and healthier families, even when dealing with events (like the parents breaking up) that could lead to major crisis elsewhere.
April 23, 2025
Fuck. This one was profound.
I had to sit with it for a few days and as a new mother myself, I both bit my inner cheek through the painful realities and expressed envy for the opportunities that other countries have established for their new and expecting mothers.
Readers are given narratives from four different women in four different countries - Japan, Kenya, Finland, and USA. All benefits and experiences are completely different and troublesome in their own ways, but open up a door into how mothers are treated to varying degrees.
I am extensively thankful to Algonquin Books, Netgalley, and Abigail Leonard for granting me advanced access before this piece hits shelves on May 6, 2025.
I had to sit with it for a few days and as a new mother myself, I both bit my inner cheek through the painful realities and expressed envy for the opportunities that other countries have established for their new and expecting mothers.
Readers are given narratives from four different women in four different countries - Japan, Kenya, Finland, and USA. All benefits and experiences are completely different and troublesome in their own ways, but open up a door into how mothers are treated to varying degrees.
I am extensively thankful to Algonquin Books, Netgalley, and Abigail Leonard for granting me advanced access before this piece hits shelves on May 6, 2025.
June 11, 2025
"As the poet Muriel Rukeyser wrote, "What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life? The world would split open?""
It's been a while since I read a non-fiction book that I was so completely engrossed in. This book explored the ways in which a countries culture, healthcare and political policy effect the experience of becoming a parenthood, particularly motherhood. It follows four real women from Japan, Kenya, Finland the USA, and their individual experiences in three parts: pregnancy and birth, the first year, and their feelings going forward.
Not only was this a really personal book about four women and their experiences, it was packed full of interesting information about the individual countries; their history, religion, government, etc. I learned so much, and was quite shocked at a lot of what I was reading. It touched on pain medication administered to women during childbirth in different countries; paid maternity leave policy; how the history of each country, particularly their involvement in wars, impacted their government policies; cultural differences in support and community offered to children; and so much more.
"There are those who view women as phsyically weak and what I want to ask them is whether a man's body could bear childbirth... Could a man suffer over and over in that way?"
This was a wonderful book that I could give nothing less than 5 stars!
It's been a while since I read a non-fiction book that I was so completely engrossed in. This book explored the ways in which a countries culture, healthcare and political policy effect the experience of becoming a parenthood, particularly motherhood. It follows four real women from Japan, Kenya, Finland the USA, and their individual experiences in three parts: pregnancy and birth, the first year, and their feelings going forward.
Not only was this a really personal book about four women and their experiences, it was packed full of interesting information about the individual countries; their history, religion, government, etc. I learned so much, and was quite shocked at a lot of what I was reading. It touched on pain medication administered to women during childbirth in different countries; paid maternity leave policy; how the history of each country, particularly their involvement in wars, impacted their government policies; cultural differences in support and community offered to children; and so much more.
"There are those who view women as phsyically weak and what I want to ask them is whether a man's body could bear childbirth... Could a man suffer over and over in that way?"
This was a wonderful book that I could give nothing less than 5 stars!
March 31, 2025
I could not put down this book! I was so invested in the women's stories which were seamlessly woven in with the historical context of the systems and traditions supporting women and families in each geography. The book captures the reality of settling into motherhood across cultures and at an individual level. The author brings each woman's story to life, making her real and relatable. Abigail Leonard has done a comprehensive job of capturing the experience of motherhood and the policies and societal challenges that exacerbate or improve the experiences of bringing a new life into the world. I recommend this book to anyone who is a parent or has a parent!
June 11, 2025
2.5 ⭐️ rounded up
As someone who’s spent the past 15 years in the thick of motherhood, I was drawn to this book’s premise. I expected personal, emotionally rich stories of new mothers around the world, along with insight into parenting systems and support structures. Instead, the book felt impersonal and leaned heavily into political framing.
I was especially surprised by the choice of the American mother - a woman in a polyamorous relationship with complex dynamics that felt too fringe to represent broader American motherhood. It distracted from the book’s message and made it hard to take the social critique seriously. The concept is strong, but I wish the execution had been more emotionally grounded and relatable.
As someone who’s spent the past 15 years in the thick of motherhood, I was drawn to this book’s premise. I expected personal, emotionally rich stories of new mothers around the world, along with insight into parenting systems and support structures. Instead, the book felt impersonal and leaned heavily into political framing.
I was especially surprised by the choice of the American mother - a woman in a polyamorous relationship with complex dynamics that felt too fringe to represent broader American motherhood. It distracted from the book’s message and made it hard to take the social critique seriously. The concept is strong, but I wish the execution had been more emotionally grounded and relatable.
June 10, 2025
I interviewed the author for work so I wasn’t surprised I enjoyed this (especially after seeing it likened to three women by lisa taddeo <3) but it was even more striking than I was expecting. I certainly knew parental leave and family policies in the US more than pale in comparison to those in other countries, but this still shocked me again and again and again. I thought the way she wove the policy/history bits in with the women’s stories was quite well-done and made it feel extremely readable. Each of the women were so incredibly strong and resilient and I have such immense respect for mothers and parents. Strong 4.5 - I honestly just wanted it to be longer because I wanted more details about each of them
May 27, 2025
3.5// This book uses the lives of four mothers from four separate countries to explore the differences in policy and cultural norms towards motherhood. Abigail Leonard looks at policies primarily related to prenatal/birth healthcare, parental leave, and childcare. This is certainly an important topic, and I don't think I've ever seen the disparities so juxtaposed against one another. I also appreciate that there is nuance to this conversation, and it's not just that the US is bad towards parents and everywhere else is good towards parents. However, I did not get the "intimate journey through the first year of motherhood" that was promised in the title. The book leans more on the political structures and uses these mothers' stories as a vehicle to illustrate that. I was expecting more emotional depth into the everyday ups and downs of motherhood, and the level of writing and storytelling left me wanting.
May 23, 2025
This book is incredible. This book is so relatable, and I say this as both a mother who has carried a child and a mother who has watched a partner carry a child. This book is about many forms of motherhood, but it is also about parenting, families, and so much more. I highly recommend this book for all parents. It helps us consider the ways we can learn from other cultures and parts of the world. It tells us what we need to do better, and it especially shows us the ways we are all so similar. In a time when the world is increasingly divided, it is important to remember that the basic fact of bringing a child into the world can be a universal triumph. That we are not different at all. That, at the core, we are all very much alike. Especially though--and without shoving it in your face--this book shows us that there is so much work to do and policy to create for people, especially women of the world, to help ease and guide families through the process of birthing and raising children in the very early days of parenthood.
July 24, 2025
It’s hard to get more perfect than this—from the concept right down to the execution, the author nailed it. We’re given the perspective of four different women in the year following the birth of each of their children, all born in different countries in 2022: Japan, Kenya, Finland, and the US. Cultural norms and social infrastructure are examined and compared and each story sheds light on parenthood. What you’ll find is that while there are many differences based on where you live as you parent, there is also a shared humanity that is universal. Truly loved.
April 14, 2025
Beautifully written, deeply insightful exploration of motherhood in the modern era.
October 12, 2025
Abigail Leonard is a journalist who's lived and worked in the US, Japan, and other countries. Her 2025 book Four Mothers is, as the title suggests, an exploration of early motherhood (from labor and delivery through the baby's first birthday) in four countries - the US, Finland, Japan, and Kenya - as told through extended vignettes from a woman from each country.
The book is engagingly-written and filled with surprising sociocultural insights and historical context about the countries profiled; the four women profiled are written as engaging and well-developed. So I think as a microcosm of motherhood through four very specific lenses, this book achieved its aims. However, because the book focuses so narrowly on these four individual stories, I also felt that the book's generalizability is limited. The Kenyan mother is in her early 20s, recently orphaned and (essentially) single with precarious social support, while the other three mothers are in their mid 30s and partnered (at least initially), more established in their careers, and have better family support. While the various countries offer various degrees of social support, in the forms of paid maternity leave, income supplementation, daycare, healthcare, etc., I would argue that one's age/life stage, partner/familial support, and household financial circumstances factor a lot more in how smoothly (or not) early motherhood goes than whichever country the mother lives in. Occasionally there were observations made in the book that made me question whose assumptions we're really hearing, the profiled mother or Leonard's. For instance, there's a comment in the epilogue about how the American mother feels like having a second child is financially unfeasible, but now that her employer may start offering three weeks of paid maternity leave might suddenly make it affordable -- really? Three weeks of paid maternity leave is the deciding factor in investing 18+ years in the financial support of a child? That's extreme short-term thinking and extremely poor financial decision making in my opinion.
I also had to give extreme side-eyes to most of the fathers and some of the mothers profiled. Particularly the Finnish couple and the American couple. Leonard writes them with a lot of sympathy but I felt judgement and criticism were more deserved.
My statistics:
Book 310 for 2025
Book 2236 cumulatively
The book is engagingly-written and filled with surprising sociocultural insights and historical context about the countries profiled; the four women profiled are written as engaging and well-developed. So I think as a microcosm of motherhood through four very specific lenses, this book achieved its aims. However, because the book focuses so narrowly on these four individual stories, I also felt that the book's generalizability is limited. The Kenyan mother is in her early 20s, recently orphaned and (essentially) single with precarious social support, while the other three mothers are in their mid 30s and partnered (at least initially), more established in their careers, and have better family support. While the various countries offer various degrees of social support, in the forms of paid maternity leave, income supplementation, daycare, healthcare, etc., I would argue that one's age/life stage, partner/familial support, and household financial circumstances factor a lot more in how smoothly (or not) early motherhood goes than whichever country the mother lives in. Occasionally there were observations made in the book that made me question whose assumptions we're really hearing, the profiled mother or Leonard's. For instance, there's a comment in the epilogue about how the American mother feels like having a second child is financially unfeasible, but now that her employer may start offering three weeks of paid maternity leave might suddenly make it affordable -- really? Three weeks of paid maternity leave is the deciding factor in investing 18+ years in the financial support of a child? That's extreme short-term thinking and extremely poor financial decision making in my opinion.
I also had to give extreme side-eyes to most of the fathers and some of the mothers profiled. Particularly the Finnish couple and the American couple. Leonard writes them with a lot of sympathy but I felt judgement and criticism were more deserved.
My statistics:
Book 310 for 2025
Book 2236 cumulatively
December 22, 2025
Very well written book!
The author did a great job at weaving together the women’s personal narratives with history on legislation and historical context. There were parallels drawn between the four stories of the shared struggle of loneliness, motherhood, career, and trying to do what’s best for a new little one.
I appreciated the connection to how historical attitudes and pressures continued to shape parenthood in their respective countries. I am also glad the author touched on the supports for the non-birthing parent and how that plays into the wellbeing of the entire family unit.
Almost felt too short! We need a follow up book on how the first year shaped their early adolescence and teenage years!
The author did a great job at weaving together the women’s personal narratives with history on legislation and historical context. There were parallels drawn between the four stories of the shared struggle of loneliness, motherhood, career, and trying to do what’s best for a new little one.
I appreciated the connection to how historical attitudes and pressures continued to shape parenthood in their respective countries. I am also glad the author touched on the supports for the non-birthing parent and how that plays into the wellbeing of the entire family unit.
Almost felt too short! We need a follow up book on how the first year shaped their early adolescence and teenage years!
September 25, 2025
A really impactful work of narrative nonfiction that follows four women in four different countries during their first year of parenthood. These women—one from Japan, one from Finland, one from Kenya and one from the U.S.—all experience the challenges of motherhood in similar, but different ways, depending both on the cultural norms and the government policies in place in their country. This is such an interesting read in this current moment, and opens up so many questions about how we create a culture that supports parenthood and the choice to have children both in concrete policy and in cultural practice.
August 31, 2025
Really important research here. Essentially the obvious to mothers holds true: when mothers are supported with family-friendly policy and gender equality in the workplace, everyone-but especially babies and children-wins. Baby bonuses are a ruse. Real childcare, education and healthcare policy are in fact the solution to supporting families. Obv.
August 1, 2025
Great idea and very interesting to read, following first year of motherhood of women in Japan, Sweden, Kenya and the US.
August 4, 2025
I really loved this book and have already recommended it to two other people! It was fascinating to hear first hand accounts of mothers and their birth experiences as well as how their community and countries did or did not support them and just how much their lives changed within the 1yr that was covered. I really appreciate how candid the book felt covering not only struggles in motherhood but also in relationships, cultural norms, work, birth plans, and political climate (especially in the US). Being from the US myself, I know how healthcare and child care here is run, and hear general information from other countries but to hear first hand accounts and the pros and cons from other countries really puts it into perspective how wildly different each country is. Also, knowing that there are some universal struggles in motherhood that can occur no matter how much your country or community support you or how much you prepare.
My only “complaint” is that it didn’t cover a longer time frame, and would love to see a follow up maybe around the kids 5th birthdays, to see how the mom’s lives have changed and navigation of school systems, education, etc. If there’s any follow up to this, I’ll definitely be reading it!
My only “complaint” is that it didn’t cover a longer time frame, and would love to see a follow up maybe around the kids 5th birthdays, to see how the mom’s lives have changed and navigation of school systems, education, etc. If there’s any follow up to this, I’ll definitely be reading it!
July 31, 2025
This book is so captivating! I was so drawn to the stories, kept wondering how it would turn out for each mother in the book. Their stories showed clearly the hardship, emotions, the worries of new mothers in different settings. The author also blend in history and policy in between to explain more how they drive the culture and the environment these moms live in. I learned a lot.
The quote that resonates with me most is probably: “Children became a capstone rather than a cornerstone of adulthood” - this is the feeling of needing to achieve something in our life (like financially successful) before thinking of having children. I do have the same pressure. So to know more about the experience of women around the world is reassuring that I’m not alone, and that it’s ok to not see children as my final life “graduation” project, but a part of my life long exploration journey.
The quote that resonates with me most is probably: “Children became a capstone rather than a cornerstone of adulthood” - this is the feeling of needing to achieve something in our life (like financially successful) before thinking of having children. I do have the same pressure. So to know more about the experience of women around the world is reassuring that I’m not alone, and that it’s ok to not see children as my final life “graduation” project, but a part of my life long exploration journey.
July 11, 2025
I wish everyone had to read this book.
July 2, 2025
Everyone should have to read this book (men and women alike)- to increase empathy towards mothers and families across the world. It's amazing what women go through and then have to deal with worrying about healthcare and not having systems that support having a baby. I almost cried a few times, it's very heavy and eye-opening. The writing style of the author is great - it's compassionate and delivers each woman's story in a nonjudgemental way. Highly recommend.
May 9, 2025
Brilliantly written look at new mothers in different countries.Fascinating intimate look at the lives of these new moms each with their unique individual stories based on their circumstances traditions lifestyles.So raw so involving I could not put this book down highly recommend.
June 4, 2025
Wow. Cannot recommend enough, I just wish there were so many other vignettes like this and at the same time am grateful for a book that feels really well edited.
September 26, 2025
I absolutely loved this book (in that/because it made me SO mad - but it’s a policy book so this means it was really good!). The author did a great job of exploring how family policy is impacted by capitalism and colonialism. One example that really stood out to me was how the US has tried in the past to offer federally mandated paid parental leave but big business lobbies stop it every time. But now big companies like Google do offer paid leave (and a lot of it for the US - like 18 weeks) but that makes them competitive in the job market/appealing to “talent” so they still don’t want public paid family leave since that would make them less competitive - so maddening.
She also did a good job presenting all the nuance - like in some countries, the policies are better but there are cultural things that prevent offering or using pain management during birth or paternity leave from being common. I wish the book was even longer and was able to follow the mothers for their kids’ whole childhoods rather than just the first year! She also did a great job portraying the transformation that becoming a mother entails. The whole book just felt spot on for a lot of things I think about at work and in graduate school, especially about different ways to frame policy like economic or child development arguments for why early childhood education is important.
It was also cool that the woman from Japan lived for a time in Matsumoto, a small city we just visited last month! Also I listened to this audiobook with Hannah and we said maybe we’d finish part one before she visited in the next week and instead we both finished the whole book in like less than a week 🤣.
She also did a good job presenting all the nuance - like in some countries, the policies are better but there are cultural things that prevent offering or using pain management during birth or paternity leave from being common. I wish the book was even longer and was able to follow the mothers for their kids’ whole childhoods rather than just the first year! She also did a great job portraying the transformation that becoming a mother entails. The whole book just felt spot on for a lot of things I think about at work and in graduate school, especially about different ways to frame policy like economic or child development arguments for why early childhood education is important.
It was also cool that the woman from Japan lived for a time in Matsumoto, a small city we just visited last month! Also I listened to this audiobook with Hannah and we said maybe we’d finish part one before she visited in the next week and instead we both finished the whole book in like less than a week 🤣.
July 21, 2025
Maybe it's just my insatiable nosiness, about people both wildly similar and dissimilar to me, but this was just fascinating. The premise is simple - journalist Abby Leonard follows four women from different countries in their first year of motherhood. Tsukasa in Japan, Anna in Finland, Chelsea in Kenya, and Sarah in the US. I got attached to all of them and was mostly cheering them all on, but also a little side-eyeing their choices sometimes, because a book with this level of intimacy makes it hard not to. They're all human and imperfect and have similar struggles - unreliable or difficult partners and affordable childcare being the two biggest. Tsukasa and Anna seemingly have it easier, as citizens of countries with much sturdier safety nets, but each of them still must contend with their culture's entrenched gender roles (Tsukasa more than Anna). Chelsea and Sarah struggle mightily with childcare, as it seems basically nonexistent in any remotely decent capacity in Nairobi, and financially out of reach in Utah. The author weaves in lessons of each country's history with childcare, which was equally interesting to me, to see how differently nations have approached the same basic problem: women want or need to work and babies have to be cared for. The book isn't proscriptive in any way, but I didn't mind that. The stories of mundane and magnificent motherhood were enough for me.
September 29, 2025
The author follows four new mothers in four different countries (Japan, Finland, Kenya, and the U.S.) as they navigate the first year of motherhood. She explores their personal stories as well as the cultural ideas and societal supports for motherhood in each country.
The book did a great job highlighting the four different societies and their histories of support (or lack of) for mothers and families. I was amazed at how much connection I felt to these women and their struggles, despite the differences between us.
My critique comes in the stories the author chose to highlight. Most of them did not seem like good representations of typical motherhood in the chosen communities, which doesn’t make the individual stories any less powerful or real, but it does take away from the idea that these stories are representations of the broader culture. For example, the American mother featured was a former Mormon with a bisexual, polyamorous husband. That storyline distracted a lot from the motherhood story the author was intending to portray.
Overall a good read, especially if you want to understand what it’s like to be a mother in today’s world. I would highly recommend this book to people that aren’t parents (or to people that became parents a long time ago when society was a bit different and a single income household was more viable), in order to gain a better understanding of what that first year is like.
The book did a great job highlighting the four different societies and their histories of support (or lack of) for mothers and families. I was amazed at how much connection I felt to these women and their struggles, despite the differences between us.
My critique comes in the stories the author chose to highlight. Most of them did not seem like good representations of typical motherhood in the chosen communities, which doesn’t make the individual stories any less powerful or real, but it does take away from the idea that these stories are representations of the broader culture. For example, the American mother featured was a former Mormon with a bisexual, polyamorous husband. That storyline distracted a lot from the motherhood story the author was intending to portray.
Overall a good read, especially if you want to understand what it’s like to be a mother in today’s world. I would highly recommend this book to people that aren’t parents (or to people that became parents a long time ago when society was a bit different and a single income household was more viable), in order to gain a better understanding of what that first year is like.
December 31, 2025
In this non-fiction book, journalist Abigail Leonard interviews four new moms from around the world, and follows their postpartum journey for the next year. There is Tsukasa from Japan, Chelsea from Kenya, Anna from Finland, and Sarah from USA. They all gave birth in 2022. Each mother's story is vulnerable and insightful in their own way. Along the way, AL also shares birth traditions and policies from each of the countries.
As a new mother on this wild, challenging, and beautiful postpartum journey, this book found me when I needed it the most (via targeted IG ads lol). I was deeply moved by each mom and their strength. Although we are not from the same countries or practice the same cultures, I found a strong connection to each of the moms in their unique struggles. I knew this already, but I was also very grateful to be in Canada with the maternity leave pay and other forms of social support during this vulnerable period. AL captured each of the moms beautifully, trying to provide the best for their baby. I recommend this book for new moms and was so captivated by it. I rarely read non fiction but I loved this so much!
As a new mother on this wild, challenging, and beautiful postpartum journey, this book found me when I needed it the most (via targeted IG ads lol). I was deeply moved by each mom and their strength. Although we are not from the same countries or practice the same cultures, I found a strong connection to each of the moms in their unique struggles. I knew this already, but I was also very grateful to be in Canada with the maternity leave pay and other forms of social support during this vulnerable period. AL captured each of the moms beautifully, trying to provide the best for their baby. I recommend this book for new moms and was so captivated by it. I rarely read non fiction but I loved this so much!
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December 10, 2025Four Mothers: An Intimate Journey Through the First Year of Parenthood in Four Countries by Abigail Leonard is a non-fiction exploration of different cultural and societal experiences of new mothers in Kenya, Japan, Finland and the US as they each birth around the same time.
This narrative looks at the benefits and barriers they each face before, during and after the arrival of their babies. It looks at the history of society progress in maternity care and parental leave, cultural practices and expectations and the impact of feminism on their role as mothers. Breastfeeding experience and breastfeeding support is part of their stories and the women and their families include diverse lifestyles and life choices.
It's a fascinating exploration and interesting as the outsider looking in, comparing the Australian experience to each of these.
This narrative looks at the benefits and barriers they each face before, during and after the arrival of their babies. It looks at the history of society progress in maternity care and parental leave, cultural practices and expectations and the impact of feminism on their role as mothers. Breastfeeding experience and breastfeeding support is part of their stories and the women and their families include diverse lifestyles and life choices.
It's a fascinating exploration and interesting as the outsider looking in, comparing the Australian experience to each of these.
July 6, 2025
Really nicely done! Leonard tells the stories of mothers in Japan, Kenya, Finland, and America tracing their lives from pregnancy to birth and through the first year. If anything I wished there were more! What makes this book even better is the inclusion of the history and culture of pregnancy and child-raising in each country. We see it from a legislative view and a societal view, not to mention the very personal circumstances of each mother. No judgement and after reading it, if you were to pick one of the countries to become a mother in.... well, America would not be at the top of my list.
Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. A lot of meaty food for thought here!
Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. A lot of meaty food for thought here!
August 4, 2025
This book was fascinating (although it could have used one more round of copy-editing — surprising number of typos). The author does a phenomenal job of blending each woman’s experience with the social and cultural factors that are affecting her. It is also powerful to see how some of their experiences connect to each other from across the globe.
However, this book isn’t just about the policies that are influencing their first year with their new babies. It’s also about how their relationships change with the fathers, and oh boy, there is plenty of drama with the fathers.
Overall, this book presented so much food-for-thought, and I’m glad that I read it.
However, this book isn’t just about the policies that are influencing their first year with their new babies. It’s also about how their relationships change with the fathers, and oh boy, there is plenty of drama with the fathers.
Overall, this book presented so much food-for-thought, and I’m glad that I read it.
August 5, 2025
This was better than I was expecting because the author did a great job of weaving the personal stories and the broader national contexts together. I am familiar with academic research on this topic in Australia, so it was interesting to get the international perspectives.
All I can say is, women, be very very careful who the father of your child is and keep in mind you need to be prepared to be a single mother (even if married or partnered). The blokes were all pretty hopeless in supporting the mothers of their children and being fathers.
All I can say is, women, be very very careful who the father of your child is and keep in mind you need to be prepared to be a single mother (even if married or partnered). The blokes were all pretty hopeless in supporting the mothers of their children and being fathers.
August 21, 2025
Four Mothers follows four women in Finland, Japan, Kenya, and the U.S. through their first year of motherhood. I loved how the author makes each story vivid and relatable while showing how policy, history, and culture shape birth rates and parenting so differently across countries. I was surprised by details like how few women in Japan get epidurals and how uncommon babysitters are. What stood out was how behind the U.S. is on parent support and affordable childcare compared with other developed countries. Every mom would wish for Finland’s system after reading this.
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