Black Milk
“In an intimate, affecting memoir, best-selling Turkish writer Elif Shafak (The Forty Rules of Love, 2010) looks within to find answers to the question of how a woman may balance motherhood and a career.
Light years from the standard perspective of supermom versus the world, Shafak relishes her independence and refuses to ignore fears about the impact of marriage and children on her most central self, that of a writer.
She faces each warring part of her nature (delightfully caricatured as an internal “harem” of conflicting voices) and mines the lives of other female writers for insight.
The great voices she discusses are impressive, including Virginia Woolf, Doris Lessing, George Sand, Louisa May Alcott, Zelda Fitzgerald, Sylvia Plath, and Ayn Rand. The list goes on and on, and no mention is casual.
Shafak has reasons to discuss every life she mentions, including her own, and with an elegant yet steely force of will, she convinces readers to look for answers along with her.
Her passion for literature is contagious, and her struggle with postpartum depression and writer’s block reinforces how carefully all of us must tread. Beautifully rendered, Shafak’s Black Milk is an epic poem to women everywhere.”
– Colleen Mondor
This introduction inspired me to buy this book.
Supporting women during their pregnancy and early postnatal period, depression can appear both pre and post and this provides an interesting perspective and wise addition to your mummy-to-be reads.
Elif Shafak is an amazing writer and this is thought-provoking, honest and covers a topic which many women are concerned about but don’t want to dwell on.
If you are struggling pre or post pregnancy with your emotions and thoughts, please speak to a professional who can guide, advise and support you through to a brighter and more balanced you. The changes in hormones can be incredibly unsettling and your whole sense of self can be altered during your pregnancy and early postnatal period so it is understandable to experience different feelings and emotional states. Recognising there is an issue takes sensitivity and courage but you owe it to yourself and your baby to seek help. I have experience in this area and will treat any enquiry in confidence but also know wonderful therapists and professionals who may be even better qualified to provide assistance.