"I use my personal story as the engine for a larger, universal story about how to unravel the narratives we are told we have to live by as women and mothers."
Ironic that Ruthie had such a hard time proving the worth/sell ability of a motherhood narrative—these are the books I crave and that are finally front and center in bookstores. Congrats Ruthie!
I'm of the age that the questioning motherhood as a choice was just beginning to be a real choice. I'm so glad to see the quandaries articulated, that are experienced by so many women. One of the most difficult and consequential decisions any of us will make. To mother/parent or not. And for women, I think, this is especially fraught with all the issues you raise.
What you say about how the writing you did in your 20s became the foundation of your book really resonates, Ruthie. I wrote about something similar recently—how my childhood journals, which at the time were helping me survive, ended up becoming the foundation of my memoir.
There’s something extraordinary about the way those fragments from our younger selves, captured without an agenda or audience in mind, can become the most resonant parts of our memoirs.
Ironic that Ruthie had such a hard time proving the worth/sell ability of a motherhood narrative—these are the books I crave and that are finally front and center in bookstores. Congrats Ruthie!
Me too, Melissa! I'm greedy for all the motherhood stories (including those that don't end with children)...
Happy publication day! As someone who made ‘unconventional’ decisions as a new adult, I look forward to reading The Mother Code!
Thank you!! And I can't wait to hear what you think.
Yes, Ruthie Ackerman! Happy publication day. So excited to have you in conversation with us this month!
I'm so excited!
I'm of the age that the questioning motherhood as a choice was just beginning to be a real choice. I'm so glad to see the quandaries articulated, that are experienced by so many women. One of the most difficult and consequential decisions any of us will make. To mother/parent or not. And for women, I think, this is especially fraught with all the issues you raise.
What you say about how the writing you did in your 20s became the foundation of your book really resonates, Ruthie. I wrote about something similar recently—how my childhood journals, which at the time were helping me survive, ended up becoming the foundation of my memoir.
There’s something extraordinary about the way those fragments from our younger selves, captured without an agenda or audience in mind, can become the most resonant parts of our memoirs.
Writer Ruthie Ackerman has answered her own question, (what she had already known). Are women ever allowed to use their brains?
I loved this so much. Thank you for featuring me, Sari!!