All That We Ask of You Is to Always Be Happy - (Laurelbooks) by Bridget Bell (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Poems that offer an honest portrayal of the complex realities of motherhood, including the devastating effects of postpartum depression.

Maternal mental illness is an ongoing health crisis and deserves awareness, not only in the medical world but in the poetry world, too. Bridget Bell's All that We Ask of You Is to Always Be Happy offers support to current mothers, mothers-to-be, family members of people suffering from perinatal mental illnesses, OB-GYNs, nurses, and any other healthcare providers. Bell uses various poetic forms to shed light on the challenges that come with motherhood, including the physical and emotional challenges of childbirth while celebrating the beauty of women's strength and resilience. Written with deep care and fearlessness, Bell's debut collection is both an educational tool and a powerful component of recovery in that shares others' similar stories.

Review Quotes

"Bell helps readers grasp the severity of maternal mental illness through imagery and metaphor, which she does excellently with poems like 'Don't Tell Her Congratulations, ' 'Sleep Deprivation, ' and 'The Peas.' This collection is especially relevant today when there are calls for government policies to encourage a higher birth rate."

-- "North Carolina Literary Review"

"I read Bridget Bell's All that We Ask of You Is to Always Be Happy with my whole mouth open, stunned by the harrowing precision and striking lyrical prowess with which she throws us into the hellish reality of perinatal mood disorders. Fearless and frank, these poems belong to everyone navigating the splintering terror of new parenthood. Bridget Bell is the best friend you need, the voice you can trust to give you the whole truth: "I whisper, You have changed everything, / and I hate you for it. Then shame / and its thorny arms." I wish I'd had this book when my child was born. Everything would've been more bearable."--Eugenia Leigh, author of 'Bianca'

"In All that We Ask of You Is to Always Be Happy, Bridget Bell dismantles myths surrounding motherhood, offering a poignant and unflinchingly honest portrayal of the struggles faced by women around the world. Through a striking use of various poetic forms, from the sonnet to the found poem, she sheds light on the physical and emotional challenges of childbirth, postpartum depression, and the complex realities of motherhood. She writes: "We are not mothers. We wear the mother mask." The words resonate deeply, urging readers to question prevailing narratives. She writes: "There was no pain. The pain was everything." I was shaken by both the beauty and the brutal honesty of these poems. In the end, Bell explains that to speak against the lie is the way to survive. "You are not alone," she writes, "Everywhere there is a woman awake with you." All that We Ask of You Is to Always Be Happy is a powerful testament to the resilience of women and a vital addition to contemporary poetry collections."--Blas Falconer, author of 'Rara Avis'

"My god, the relief, to know reality / is reality," writes Bridget Bell about her passage through postpartum depression to a new identity as a mother. What is often dismissed as "baby blues" here is explored in harrowing, thorough lyrics. Bell sings a song about motherhood, that extraordinary event of body and mind, and about her traumatic survival from PPD, an experience more common than acknowledged and seldom written about so vividly. Full of difficult and beautiful poems, this book is a must read because "[e]verywhere, there is a woman awake with you."--Connie Voisine, author of 'The Bower'

About the Author

Bridget Bell teaches composition and literature at Durham Technical Community College in Durham, North Carolina. All that We Ask of You Is to Always Be Happy is her debut poetry collection.