The Nursery

by Szilvia Molnar

The walls begin to close in on a new mother during the fragile first few days of parenthood

Somewhere in New York, in a cramped two-bed apartment that wilts beneath the intense August heat, a young woman stays at home with her baby. Women have done this before now: given birth, nursed their children, held, carried, soothed. But our narrator, a talented translator in another life, doesn’t know what it means to be a mother.

This does not feel easy, this does not feel natural. This doesn’t feel like any of the stories she has heard about parenthood. As she struggles to adjust to her role as a mother, a lifeline appears in the form of Peter, a neighbour who, like her, is confined to this apartment building. But soon his visits start to disturb as much as soothe the young woman, leaving her more fragmented than ever.

The Nursery is a searing, empathetic account of those first, heady postpartum days that will speak to anyone who has felt alone, and needed a friendship to pull them out of the dark.

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Contemporary, Mental Health, Audiobook, Parenting, Feminism

208 pages, Hardcover

First published March 21, 2023

About the author

Szilvia Molnar is the foreign rights director at a New York-based literary agency, and author of a chapbook called Soft Split. Her work has appeared in Guernica, Lit Hub, Triangle House Review, Two Serious Ladies, The Buenos Aires Review, and Neue Rundschau. Szilvia is from Budapest and was raised in Sweden. She lives in Austin, Texas.
Her debut novel titled The Nursery published with Pantheon Books, March 2023, and is forthcoming in eight languages.

Photo credit: Ben Mistak

Reviews

[Rosh ~catching up slowly~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

In a Nutshell: An unfiltered look at new motherhood and post-partum depression. Loved the theme, but not the writing structure. Won’t recommend it to anyone who wants to experience motherhood some day – this book might turn you off the idea for life!


Written from the first person point of view of an unnamed narrator, the book gives us a glimpse of this new mother’s ponderings and desire for normalcy. Her narration broadly covers three topics: her life with her husband John before motherhood; her current state of mind struggling with being a new mother to her baby (nicknamed “Button”) and suffering from Post-Partum Depression (PPD); and her introspections over various topics such as her work as a translator or her Google searches.

As you can see, I have skipped my usual ‘Story Synopsis’ section in this review. The reason for that is simple: there’s no story in the book! It feels like one endless stream-of-consciousness monologue, flittering across the three broad themes I mentioned earlier. Reading someone’s ramblings for almost 200 pages is no easy task, especially for me. The book also becomes quite repetitive in thoughts and situations. Then again, this might be the point of the plot: to show how new motherhood involves nothing but the same thoughts and actions repeated ad nauseam.

There’s no doubt that the topic of PPD is a brilliant one. The blurb describes this as a ‘visceral and revelatory portrait of a woman struggling with maternal fear and its looming madness’, and I could not have put it better, ‘visceral’ being the key word. I have never seen any book spotlight PPD in such a stark way. It offers an unrestrained view at how much some mothers struggle with their new role as a carer to a helpless infant, while still recovering from the physical brutality of delivering a baby.

As a mother who has been through PPD, I could empathise with many of the narrator’s feelings, especially when she felt frustrated at being the only one with a change in lifestyle while her husband continued as before. The writing choice of letting the narrator stay unnamed while the two men in the story have regular names, also highlights the gender disparity during postnatal experiences, with the narrator being nothing but a ‘mother’ now but John can continue being the same old John. The simple line she tells John—‘You have a choice.’—speaks volumes. John is portrayed almost like a typical traditional husband, caring but in his own way and only when it is convenient to him, without realising how his wife is struggling to cope.

At the same time, it should be noted that the narrator’s PPD was too extreme, and should not be taken as a standard manifestation of the problem, though it is possible in reality. As such, the plot doesn’t cover even a single positive aspect of motherhood, which makes it brutal on the senses. There's hardly any positive word about baby Button. She's described more as a selfish leech who just cares about getting her milk, which IS true of newborns, I suppose. Oh well!

The introductory note describes the book as having funny moments, but in all honesty, I found nothing in it to laugh about. Some scenes that could be perceived by some readers as humorous were too vulgar for my taste. Some other lines that seem funny—"I used to be a translator and now I am a milk bar."—are more about her frustration than her funny bone.

Where I hated the book was in the style of delivery. This is the kind of literary fiction where thoughts go with the flow without any structure. (Somewhat like Geetanjali Shree’s writing in ‘Tomb of Sand’.) There’s no linearity to the events, and there are no happy moments to provide respite. Almost the entire book comes to us through the haze of self-pity and depression, which makes the reading experience feel almost suffocating.

The content could be highly triggering for those who have gone through PPD. Also, expectant mothers or those desirous of becoming a mother: do yourselves a favour and don’t read this book. Motherhood comes with many pains – both physiological and psychological, but it is so much more than just this, even if you have as extreme PPD as our narrator does. I guess that leaves just us battle-weary moms as target readers! 😄 (Of course, men can read it as well, but how many men want to read a literary fiction about PPD? Let’s have a show of hands!)

As a debut work of literary fiction, this book does have many merits. But its style of delivery made it just a good read for me, though it could have been ‘great’ with such a relevant topic. Read it when you are in the mood for a book about the pain of post-pregnancy days than about the joys of motherhood.

I loved and hated the book in equal measure. Thus, the midway rating.

3 stars.


My thanks to Knopf, Pantheon, and NetGalley for the DRC of “The Nursery”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

PS: Even until a few minutes ago, I didn’t get the cover at all! It is only a peek at the other reviews that revealed what the cover art is supposed to represent – an areola with the milk leaking from the nipple. Now that I know this, I can’t unsee it, and I agree that it makes perfect sense for the story. But honestly, if so many readers can’t even recognise what the cover is supposed to indicate, what’s the point of its brilliance?





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[Reading_ Tamishly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I worship the book The Yellow Wallpaper. So I definitely love this one. I would say choose this book amidst the new ones coming out even when the book cover isn’t being the attention seeker.

I would say the cover reflects perfectly the plot.

The story deals with postpartum depression so accurately. I would say it isn’t as heartbreaking and sad as I have read characters with worse people in their lives.

I love the writing so much. The blurb is perfect. It tells exactly what you can expect from this short read.

There is nothing I would say that didn’t add to the seriousness and the worrisome condition of the character. I am looking forward to more of the debut author’s works in the future.

Thank you, Pantheon, for the advance reading copy.

[CarolG · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like another reviewer, I feel very foolish because I didn’t realize the picture on the cover of this book is a blurred out image of a nipple dripping breastmilk. I don't know what I thought I was looking at originally because now I can't unsee it (to borrow a phrase from Karly!).

The narrator of The Nursery is an unnamed woman who has recently given birth to a baby and is suffering post partum depression. Her thoughts bounce around from the time before the birth to the time after the birth, to ways of harming the baby, to her upstairs neighbour who must take an oxygen tank everywhere with him and we also learn about the types of internet searches she's doing. It's a very short book, well written and containing pretty important information on what an effect childbirth can have on a person. I like another reviewer's description of the story as being told in a detached, dreamlike style. I had a difficult time rating this because there were some parts that really annoyed me, like the number of times the word "suck" was used (referring to the baby nursing of course but it's a word that grates on me) and the number of times her breasts were referred to as "tits", another word that irritates me. But the book was definitely readable and I was captivated by the writing. So 3.5 rounded up!

TW: Post partum depression, descriptions of postnatal difficulties.

The narrator refers to her baby as "Button". It's the oddest coincidence because I just read another book where the young child was called "Button", I think as a nickname!

My thanks to Pantheon via Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
Publication Date: March 21, 2023

[BookOfCinz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book is reminder that single, childless women are the happiest…

This is not typically the book I would read but as someone who chooses to remain childless I remain interested in persons who decides to be the opposite. In The Nursery we meet a firs time mother living in a very cramped New York City apartment. It is narrated by her so she pulls back the curtain of her mind and we are privy to all her unfiltered thoughts as she finds out that she is pregnant, giving birth and feeling like a failure in every sense of the word.

Our narrator, pre-baby is in a loving relationship with her husband John whose face lights up when she enters a room. She spends her days at her desk translating foreign books, John works in an office, overall they are a very happy couple. She becomes pregnant and everything changes- her and John barely speak, she stays home, she wonders if she is doing motherhood right, her body betrays her and nothing could prepare her for her current life with her baby Button. She suffers from post-partum depression where nothing seem to be able to pull her out.

This is a very short read but packed with a slice of life of a new mom who seems to be going at it alone. I love how unfiltered her thoughts are and I imagine a lot of new mom may feel that way. There is something real about the life that our narrator is living. She speaks about not being able to relate to her friends, how there is a line drawn between child-free and those with child, the unfairness of labour, the freedom her husband has and how motherhood just feels rough.

I highly recommend this read to anyone- especially men!

There is nobody to teach you that motherhood is forever so how is it not a shock to your system when you find out that it is, in fact, until forever? How can this even be called motherhood?

[Emily Coffee and Commentary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A visceral account of post-partum depression, professional discontent, and the complexities of motherhood. Unflinching and yielding gorgeous prose, The Nursery examines the power imbalance women face as carers, as partners, as creators, as well as the harrowing struggle to find an individual identity when so much value is placed on a womens’ capacity for motherhood. This novel is a shocking yet authentic portrayal of intrusive thoughts, internal struggles, and the unending cycle of hunger, on a tangible and intangible level. For fans of the Bell Jar and Chouette.

[leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

the nursery follows a young unnamed narrator, a swedish-english translator, who has just given birth to her first child, a girl who is referred to as ‘button’ throughout the book. although short, this novel provides a visceral depiction of the first few days of new motherhood and the spiral into postpartum depression: the exhaustion, the fear, the pain, the intrusive violent thoughts, the endlessly long days, the mourning of a life and a body before childbirth.

the novel has a dream-like quality, made up of a collection of disjointed vignettes put together to capture the hazy, timeless postpartum days. as a reader you even start to feel a little disorientated - which feels like an intentional goal on the author’s part.

although i haven’t experienced it myself as i don’t have a child, i know that postpartum depression is incredibly common, affecting more than 1 in 10 women in the uk , but yet it’s still very taboo to openly talk about, often only whispered about or mentioned in hushed tones. in our society, especially if you’re a woman, we grow up hearing that motherhood is ‘magical’ and ‘special’, that the first few days with our baby after giving birth are a ‘gift’ that should be treasured. and i’m sure that can be true for some people, but maybe it’s not for others - and that’s ok. the nursery focuses on one woman who is struggling in those early days of motherhood with a level of raw honesty which i’m sure many women will find comfort and relatability in.

(side note: the parts about working as a translator/the discussions around language and the idea of the translator as the interpreter and the re-maker of meaning were really interesting parts of this novel too)

thank you to oneworld for the advanced copy! the nursery publishes in the uk on 4 may 2023.

[İpek Dadakçı · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lohusalık depresyonuna dair filtresiz, samimi, cesur ve gerçekçi bir roman Süt Lekesi. ABD’de yaşayan, İsveççeden İngilizceye edebi çeviriler yapan, evden çalışan genç bir kadın çevirmenin hayatına bebeğinin dahil olmasıyla yaşadıklarını anlatan bir içsel monolog. İsimsiz anlatıcımız, ‘Düğme’ adını verdiği ve kitap boyunca bu isimle anılan bebeğiyle beraber annelik tecrübesini her yönüyle anlatıyor: yaşadığı fiziksel değişimler, bir kadın, bir çevirmen ve bir eşken neredeyse salt bir anneye indirgenen kimliği ve bunun neticeleri, eşiyle olan ilişkisi, kariyerinde yapmak zorunda kaldığı değişiklikler, sosyal hayatında meydana gelen kısıtlamalar, bebeğe karşı his ve sorumlulukları, yeni hayat düzeni ve yepyeni günlük rutini gibi pek çok farklı boyutunu ele alıyor yeni anne olmanın. Zaman zaman geçmişe de gidiyor; anne olmadan ve hamileykenki süreçten de kesitlere tanık oluyoruz. Bu süreçlerdeki ruh hallerine de çok gerçekçi yaklaşıyor yazar; sevgi, pişmanlık, hüzün, yalnızlık, çaresizlik, şefkat gibi zıt kutuplarda, bambaşka duyguların hepsine yer veriyor anlatıda. Tüm bunlar romanı zenginleştirmiş.

Doğumdan sonraki iki ayı hem duygusal hem fiziksel açıdan çok zor geçirenlerdenim ben de, o nedenle kitabın zamanlaması konusunda tereddütlerim vardı okurken. Ama kitap, beni boğmak bir yana sanki bir arkadaşımla dertleşiyormuşum gibi iyi geldi bana ve her ne kadar herkesin hikayesinin başka olduğunu bilsem de yaşadığım sürecin birtakım yönlerinin aslında çok tipik olabileceğini göstermesi bakımından da iyi hissettirdi. Konuya ilgi duyanlara gönül rahatlığıyla tavsiye ederim.

[♑︎♑︎♑︎ ♑︎♑︎♑︎]

In 2019 people in publishing kept telling me “motherhood is big right now.” Since then the shelf of published books exploring the existential terror of those immediate post-natal days has grown long and I can’t help but compare this novel to the many others I’ve read lately and that is to say, now that there is so much to choose from, it seems I personally go for the ones that are bordering on “the surreal horror of early motherhood,” vs. “the real horror of early motherhood.”

Also it’s impossible for me to imagine a book on this subject that I’d love more than Reproduction by Louisa Hall, who has graciously blurbed this book.

Now that I’ve stated my biases, let me add that this is a beautifully written book. It’s what I’d call “poetic realism” and some of the writing is so perfect for its intended meanings. I’m fond of this sentence, for example: “The apartment has thrown up on itself.” I know that feeling, bro.

[Susan Kay - on semihiatus · Rating 4 out of 5]

"As hard as it can, the August sun pushes itself into our small apartment on the third floor. The baby I hold in my arms is a leech, let’s call her Button."

This is a real and raw look at being postpartum and all that comes along with it, set in an almost fever dream/stream of consciousness style of writing. All the depression, loss of self, loneliness, anger, expectations, and resentment is very well represented in this short novel.

"And still, with the birth of Button, it was the death of John. I can’t help but make it sound as though my husband is dead when I describe him."

I am mom to a teenager, and this still brought me right back to being there in that postpartum haze. I can't say it was a fun read or a good time. It felt much longer than a short book because it was so, so heavy. And I have to admit, I was a bit confused at times with the direction or lack thereof. Many beautiful and relatable quotes though. I won't soon forget it.

If you are thinking about having kids or on the fence about it, I would not recommend reading this book. If you are postpartum are not far removed from it, I would not recommend reading this book. If you are not in a good space from a mental health perspective, I would not recommend reading this book. For the sad weird lit fic readers out there, game on.

[verynicebook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, my heart. This one was difficult to read, and it frustrated and irritated me at times, but the writing!! Absolutely amazing. The Nursery is described as a visceral and revelatory portrait of a woman grappling with maternal fear and its looming madness, demonstrating how difficult and fragile those postpartum days can be. It broke my heart while also being darkly comedic at times, which was a relief given how heavy it was. It's a quick read, but it's not lacking in quality!

[Mizuki Giffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

With the dream-like timelessness of Sheila Heti’s Pure Colour, the observant introspection of Katie Kitamura’s Intimacies, and the stagnating New York of Jenny Offill’s Weather, The Nursery feels both comfortingly familiar and unlike anything I've read. The nameless narrator of Molnar’s novel is a Swedish-English translator who has just given birth to her first child, referred to as Button throughout. Rather than presenting an idealized portrait of motherhood, Molnar speaks about the bloody, painful, stinging, sleepless, terrifying aspects of new motherhood: her inability to differentiate the passage of days, intrusive, violent thoughts that worry her, mourning the freedom she had before Button’s birth, reliving her traumatic first days in hospital, and feeling resentment towards her husband, who seems largely unaffected by all of this. She writes: “Women have done this before me and nothing changed. And women will do this after me. Perhaps nothing will change. This concept can’t be literature,” but the beauty of this novel is that it changes the “can’t” of the last sentence into “hasn’t been”; this concept “hasn’t been” literature, even if it deserves to be. Through beautiful prose, stark honesty, and raw emotion, Molnar gives space to the unseen emotional and physical labour of new motherhood, granting herself compassion for what she isn’t able to do, and giving recognition for what she has to.

[Pauline]

Magistral — m’ôte le besoin d’écrire un roman sur le postpartum car tout y est dit.

[meliverse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sütten battaniye, sütten bulut, süt şelalesi, POSTPARTUM ve her şey. Son yıllarda kurmaca metinlerde (buralarda da mühimserler de çevirirler umarım) bu konu başrolde yer alıyor da biz çocuksuzlar da hemcinslerimiz ve annelerimizin halinden anlayabiliyoruz. Neyse, körpecik bir anne, bebeği Düğme, kocası John ve komşusu Peter’dan müteşekkil, bugününün dünün tıpkısı dolayısıyla yarınının da bugünün aynısı günlerini anlattığı kısa bir roman. Lohusalığın karmaşıklığını herkes bilir ve genelde yaşar (diyolla!) da pek az kişi dillendirir. Romanda anne kişisinin bu süreci ve bittabi geçmişine duyduğu özlemi otantik bir şekilde tasvir edişini “işte feraset! işte cesaret” diyerek büyük tepkilerle karşıladım. Ancak sonra, bu mevzunun anlatımını feraset ve cesaret ikilisinin kucağına itelemenin anne kişilere haksızlık olduğu fikri koca kafama dank etti. Neyse ne canım! Molnar idealize edilmiş bir annelik portresi sunmuyor, hayal satmıyor, gerçeklerden kopmuyor. ANCAK John’un özgürlüğüne karşı anne kişisinden tam olarak duyamadığım ya da dişimin kovuğuna yetmeyen diyeyim “bir miktar öfkeyi” bazı cümlelerin sonunda nokta olarak kullandım. Bazı yerlere virgül niyetine serpiştirdim, yalan yok. Olsun, ben yüce gönüllü bir okur (oo merhaba!) olarak yine de insanın her zaman önce kendinden şefkati esirgememesinin önemini önemini, çivi gibi çivi gibi çaktığı için bu romana torpilli bir dört veriyorum.

[mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Swedish-English translator is struggling with postpartum depression. Isolation, lack of sleep, and exhaustion took their toll. This honest novel will be at least partly relatable to mothers — those who share the experience of taking care of a newborn baby.

The Nursery is a short novel but a powerful one.

Thanks to Pantheon for the ARC and this opportunity! This is a voluntary review and all opinions are my own.

[Giorgia Legge Tanto · Rating 4 out of 5]

È un libro decisamente intrigante. Perché? Perché parla di maternità, parla di come la vita di coppia è stata prima e di come è dopo un figlio, parla di come cambia una donna quando diventa madre. In questo libro ci sono tutti i pensieri che ogni donna che ha partorito ha provato una volta che ha avuto il proprio figlio in braccio. E non solo i pensieri belli, quelli ognuno di noi ha rispetto all’idea di maternità, ma quelli che ogni madre ha pensato o messo in pratica dopo esserlo diventata. La risposta a queste domande, a questi pensieri si può trovare in questo libro: una risposta autentica, che restituisce al lettore una visione della maternità senza stereotipi, senza l’idea dell’amore incondizionato per i propri figli.

La protagonista di questo romanzo (o relazione di flusso di pensieri), che rimane senza nome per tutto il libro, è una traduttrice dallo svedese, è appena diventata mamma di Bottone (non si conosce mai neanche il nome della bambina). Questo già vi dice tante cose perché non nominandole vengono depersonalizzate, come diade esistono una per l’altra, ma non per il mondo esterno. Ma singolarmente non esistono altrettanto, sempre per lo stesso motivo. Il parto segna un prima e un dopo nella vita e nel fisico: prima della nascita di Bottone, lei trascorreva le sue giornate immersa nel lavoro di traduzione, passeggiava all’aria aperta o andava a cena con John, suo marito. Ma dopo Bottone, lei non sente più libertà e il lavoro, le cene e le passeggiate sono un ricordo lontano.

“Sono prigioniera della cosa che ho creato, Bottone l’ho fatta io, l’ho voluta, e ora non posso uscire da questa situazione.”

Il modo di scrivere non è immediato per due motivi: in primo luogo perché i dialoghi sono pochi e inseriti all’interno del flusso di pensieri della donna; inoltre non cioè mai un reale inizio o una fine ai pensieri della donna, i giorni si confondono fra loro.
In tutto questo è un libro che consiglio soprattutto ai neo padri o ai padri già scafati: le vostre compagne hanno pensato e fatto almeno una volta nel post parto quello che pensa e fa questa protagonista.

[Scarlett Readz and Runz....Through Novel Time & Distance · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think every parent can find something relatable in this novel about becoming a mom or dad and those first challenging hours, days, and weeks adjusting to the changes in partnership, romantic relations as well as friendships...even if it's been years, but especially when it's all too new. From that moment on, everything about life will be different! ✨️

[Basic B's Guide · Rating 4 out of 5]

This debut is available March 21st. Thank you to the publisher for my gifted copy.

First off, lets talk about this cover! Its definitely eye catching and is very well suited to this story.

Debuts and stories about motherhood are some of my absolute favorite books to read so I was very excited to read this.

We have an unnamed narrator who has just given birth to her first born (whom she calls Button). It showcases how difficult and delicate those postpartum days can be. Please tread lightly if this subject is triggering for you.

This is raw, relatable and visceral. You are reminded of the constant needs of a baby, the loss of ourselves and our bodies. I loved the reflection on her own mother and her thoughts and hopes/notions before and after becoming a mother.

This book is a shortie (200 pages) and well worth picking up if you enjoy a reflection on motherhood. It is dark but there is light and hope as well.

I talk about this book in my LIVE reading update from February 5th. You can find this over on my Instagram account @basicbsguide.

[Lena Schalentier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hab jetzt nochmal weniger Bock Mutter zu werden, ups. Aber es ist eben nicht nur negativ, sondern irgendwo auch nuanciert und zeigt patriarchale Strukturen auf eine Art und Weise, wie ich sie so noch nicht gesehen habe, weil die Protagonistin eben nicht perfekt ist, aber es auch nicht sein kann.

[Veronica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank You to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor, NetGalley, and Szilvia Molnar for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

I’ve read books that deal with trying to express what postpartum depression feels like, but none have captured it quite as perfectly as The Nursery does. From days blending together, exhaustion creating hallucinations, sleep feeling like mere seconds because the tired feeling in your bones never really lifts completely, where drinking a cup of coffee is a reprieve over an every day activity that most just consider a part of their every day routine, to the intrusive thoughts you can’t speak out loud for fear of being judged or having your baby taken away, we get the clearest picture of how suffering with depression after having a child is isolating.

This book really takes you through exactly why new moms feel so alone in their suffering; everything our narrator does, even while in pain, is so that her husband is comfortable, so that Button is comfortable, so that Peter is comfortable, all as undisturbed as possible while she slowly starts unraveling inside, afraid to speak of the horrors she feels at times for fear of losing the people she loves the most even if it causes her to sit on the brink of insanity.

The point is really driven home when we are left never knowing the alias Miffo’s real name, because she feels her identity is all but her own now. As a work of fiction, this tale speaks nothing but truths.

I look forward to reading more stories from this author!

[Chelsey (a_novel_idea11) · Rating 3 out of 5]

My son is nearly two years old and let me tell you, The Nursery by Szilvia Molnar took me right back to those early days when he was attached to me more than he wasn't, I didn't know what time it was, and sleep came in minutes, not hours. There were parts of postpartum life that I think I blocked from memory and The Nursery, for better or worse, brings it all back.

The Nursery is a hard read. It's a very intimate look at a woman in the throes of postpartum life. Call it PPD, call it PPA, call it what you will. I will be shocked to meet a woman who has had a newborn and doesn't relate to this novel at least in part.

There is so much symbolism in this book to be explored. Most glaring is the fact that the mother is simply an unnamed woman, the baby is referred to as Button, but the men in the novel both have names.

Overall, I needed a little more from this novel. It's short, which is good because the subject matter is often dark, but I could've used another fifty pages or so.

One aspect that really could've used a more real estate for me was the mother's feelings toward her husband and the impact on their relationship that the new baby had. I feel that this is overwhelmingly ignored in literature and can leave new moms feeling disoriented and isolated. There are glimpses of how the couple's relationship had changed but not enough, and often what was glimpsed felt slightly inauthentic. For example, though there were passing references of resentment and a lack of interest in intimacy, in the next breath, the woman would comment on how much she adored her husband.

The woman's relationship with Peter gave me some Man Called Ove vibes and I was there for it.

The moss stuff was super bizarre and that's all I'll say about that.

Overall, there is so much to unpack in this short novel. It's emotional, it's infuriating, it's heartbreaking, and ultimately it's very relatable. That being said, it's relatable for a very specific subset of people and for that reason, this is one I'll recommend selectively.

Thank you to Pantheon and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

[Sarah Saunders · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book made me preemptively resent the father of my future children

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a digital ARC from Pantheon Books through NetGalley.

The reader follows an unnamed new mother through glimpses of trying to get pregnant, pregnancy and mostly the first week after her daughter’s birth. Reading this book, the reader is basically reading the new mom’s every thought, no matter how raw, and uncomfortable they are.

[paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

i have strange obsession with (literary) fiction about pregnancy, birth, and (early) motherhood. it has something to do with the decisions i will likely make in the future and maybe also a streak of guilt about the suffering i caused my mother. perhaps it is a raging at the ignorance of the world, its determination not to see mothers.

anyway, this is a powerful novel: an honest and unflinching account of postpartum depression, and the toll giving birth takes on the body. it is an angry novel and one full of pain. it depicts the utter lack of understanding, even from those who are supposed to love you the most, even from the father of your baby.

The body is in splinters. I'm too tired to bend over and clean blood off the bathroom floor. [...] A part of me is trying to understand what it is that I have done, the rest of me is the wound. What have I done to deserve this? Who brought this state forward and how could I even begin to translate this madness?


the writing is stunning: at times rather simple, but in places truly poetic. it is always moving. it is a little bit horrifying, but out of necessity. we need to acknowledge the devastation pregnancy and birth can bring upon a body. we need to see the psychological hardship motherhood, particularly early motherhood presents. this novel shouts at your face, demands to be heard. and it should be. read this, and then find a man to give it to.

I can't even feel that today is a day, like you do when you wake up in the morning and have removed yourself from the thought of the night. It's not about knowing what day it is, it's about having moved into a state of perpetual "giving," trans. ger. I'm living with a taker and her name is Button [...].

it is also a novel of connection, of care and understanding found in the most unlikely of places, of people. it is a text of shared grief, grief that is also remembered joy and the recollection of the possibility of hope.

but even more than that, the novel offers fascinating reflections on the act of translation. the protagonists, a translator, frequently relates her experiences through allusions and comparisons to her work and the philosophical and linguistic considerations behind it. not only does this thematic combination turn the writing into something unusual and remarkable, it, furthermore, emphasises the contrast between mothering and professional occupation as a personally fulfilling work. how is time occupied differently after having a child? how has the way i inhabit time changed? where time previously meant space to do , am i now imprisoned within it?

And I am not shackled to the notion of accuracy, sometimes it's more important to indicate the direction of the motion presented by a word than to land on the correct one.

[Stacy40pages · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Nursery by Szilvia Molnar. Thanks to @pantheonbooks and @netgalley quality ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

An unnamed mother takes us on her journey through post-partum depression and back.

This was a great read for any mother who has just had a baby and suffering from the transition and loneliness. My introduction to motherhood was a lot different, but I appreciated this portrayal and genuineness. The writing style is raw and emotional, and just so realistic. It was hard to read at times and I had to take small breaks. It was a pretty fast and short read.

“I have been a mother for as long as Button has been outside of me, and I have yet to embrace the title ad much as I have had to embrace her.”

The Nursery comes out 3/17.

[Clarissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dieser Roman ist auf jeden Fall eines meiner liebsten Bücher über Mutterschaft! (Als überzeugte Nicht-Mutter zählt meine Meinung dazu aber auch nur begrenzt)
Ich liebe die Aspekte von Linguistik und Übersetzung, die durch den Beruf der Protagonistin immer wieder eingeschoben werden.
Die (kaum vorhandene) Struktur hat mir das folgen zum Teil erschwert, aber das ungeschönte blicken auf postpartale Depression und intrusive Gedanken hat mich zutiefst beeindruckt.

[Kaleigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first I did not want to rate this book five stars. I thought, how can I rate a book so highly when I didn't enjoy any minute of reading it and, despite it being fairly short, it took me over a week to get through it because I never felt the itch to get back to it once I put it down?

But still, it deserves 5 stars for being so honest and unflinching a portrait of postpartum life. I've never had a child, but I still found the book to be validating, to confirm the harshness of female reality. This is what happens to a woman's body when she has a baby, these are the expectations that are thrust upon her. This narrator is suffering from postpartum depression and/or anxiety which intensify and multiply her worries, but that doesn't lessen or make rare her observations. Many of her anxious thoughts (primarily variations on, "will I ever be my old self again?" and "will I ever be valued as a person rather than baby's mom?") are ones that are too often minimized by others in favor of dismissive pronatalist platitudes.

I've seen a few other reviews warn to stay away from this book if you ever want to have children, and I ask why? Why would you want to shield someone from the honest truth? Childbirth and new motherhood might not be so bad for them, but it might be, and being even a little bit better prepared may help them in making that decision or in feeling "seen" if they have. That alone is so necessary and invaluable. So yes, it is a tough read, but deeply affecting and validating.

[Jenbebookish · Rating 2 out of 5]

THIS. I did not enjoy. Not in the slightest.

I understood what this was trying to be...deep, dark, unhinged. And it sorta got there. But not quite. It felt like the author was trying too hard.

It was advertised as a mother that's having dark thoughts type of situation, but what it wound up feeling like was more of a typical expression of postpartum; a depressive littered with anxious thoughts.

It wasn't the most awful thing ever, the writing was decent, but I was just soo bored.

Two stars based on my enjoyment of it, which was fairly non existent. The writing might be closer to a 3. So still not great. But others I'm sure will enjoy this more, I'm just not the intended audience. Maybe if I had kids I would have found it more relatable? I dunno, but for me it was a book that I know I will forget 5 minutes after I stop writing this.

…………..

……………

……………

POOF!


It’s already forgotten 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

First solo edit! I love this book. I love this cover! I love Szilvia. What a beautiful and visceral exploration of post-partum this debut novel is.

[Lauren Fanella · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5⭐️

[Carolina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one. Being a new mom is scary, and this book displayed those desperate and most vulnerable moments in motherhood. Also, Szilvia Molnar is so witty! She knows how to write beautiful and funny sentences depicting unhinged and intrusive thoughts.

My favorite thing about this novel was the relationship between this new mom and her upstairs neighbor. It was definitely a surprise! The ending left me thinking about how their relationship and individual situations even though very different, were going through parallel situations.

This novel is about new life, death, relationships, the scary unknown, and letting go. Letting go to set yourself free. A solid 4 stars.