I could not put this book down. Four Mothers is a masterfully reported work of narrative nonfiction, tracing the journeys of four remarkable women . Abigail Leonard deftly weaves together these astonishing stories of heartbreak, hope, sacrifice, and love. Grounded in deep research and reporting, she skillfully reveals the hidden forces and systems that shape modern motherhood. This book will make you step back and consider your own experiences of mothering and being mothered, how similar or different it all may have been in another place, at another time, in another body>

Autorentext

Abigail Leonard is an award-winning international reporter and news producer, currently based in Washington D.C. and before that in Tokyo, where she was a frequent contributor to NPR, Time magazine and New York Times video. Her stories have also appeared in the Washington Post, Newsweek and Vox. Before she moved to Japan, she wrote and produced long-form news documentaries as a staff producer for PBS, ABC and Al Jazeera America. Stories she reported have earned an Overseas Press Club Award, an Association of Health Care Journalists Award, a National Headliner Award, and a James Beard Foundation Media Award Nomination. ****

Klappentext

'Public interest journalism at its best - powerful human stories peppered with well-chosen facts ... A compelling case for a fairer society'
SUNDAY TIMES

'An absorbing, moving, and beautifully composed exploration of motherhood and mothering across the world . . . a gripping, vital, and utterly compelling book'
Elinor Cleghorn, author of Unwell Women

AS THE YEAR TURNS, FOUR WOMEN GIVE BIRTH.

In Japan, Tsukasa's government-funded hospital room overlooks the mountains and she spends seven days there, before resting at her mother's house for a month. The day after giving birth in Kenya, Chelsea returns to her flat in the city, far from her extended family, and her friends help her settle in. Anna, who has already been on maternity leave in Finland for a month, delivers her baby in a midwife-lead birth centre, a tradition dating back a century. In America, despite her insurance, Sarah pays $3,000 from her savings for an uncomplicated birth, before heading home, excited and overwhelmed.

Four Mothers follows these women over the next twelve months, through their first year of parenting. Through immersive storytelling and deep reporting, Abigail Leonard brings to life the policies that shape the experiences of both parents and children: access to healthcare and parental leave, community and workplace support.

Both intimate and international, we see what is and what could be.

'Eye-opening and cathartic. It is a love letter to parents and a clarion call for better policy'
Eve Rodsky, author of Fair Play

**'Exquisitely reported and intensely readable ... Once I started Four Mothers I could not put it down'
Darcy Lockman, author of All the Rage