The Mother - by Rachel Deutsch (Paperback)

About the Book

"A raw and honest, harrowing and humorous journey into the dualities of modern motherhood in graphic memoir form. New Yorker cartoonist Rachel Deutsch desperately wanted a baby, yet she was fearful of actually being pregnant and having one. She lurched into a new identity and then missed her old one. She loved her new baby fiercely, but yearned for her previous relationship with her partner, as sleepless nights revealed the cracks below the surface of their relationship. Funny, provocative, visually striking and unabashedly candid, The Mother offers empathy and laughs to new and seasoned parents, encouraging readers to embrace the unexpected depths of feeling, wildness, weirdness and love that comes with the territory."--

Book Synopsis

"This is a truly beautiful and special book."--Emily Oster, author of Expecting Better and Cribsheet

"Searching, honest, funny, and beautiful." --Rachel Yoder, author of Nightbitch

"I laugh-sobbed my way through The Mother, so loudly my children came to check on me." --Angela Garbes, author of Essential Labor and Like a Mother

In this hilarious and harrowingly honest graphic memoir, New Yorker cartoonist Rachel Deutsch, aka @weirdmomart on Instagram, shares the story of her journey into motherhood.

Rachel Deutsch had always wanted a baby. She wanted to press her face into theirs and feed them from her body. Eventually her child might hate her a little. But they'd be on speaking terms most of the time. Wait...or was that just Rachel's experience with her mom? Had she processed her own childhood enough to raise a child herself!?

The Mother is about the constant dualities and contradictions of motherhood. The collision of future Rachel and past Rachel. Desperately wanting to get pregnant while fearful of being pregnant. Loving a new identity while missing an old one. Celebrating a new family while mourning the previous incarnation of a partnership.

Funny, provocative, and unabashedly candid, Deutsch's memoir embraces both the joys and the challenges of modern parenthood in a way that will resonate with new and seasoned parents.

Review Quotes

Praise for The Mother:

"Deutsch pays blisteringly honest and acidly funny homage to the temporary hell that is brand-new parenting. . . . A balm to new parents who find themselves utterly upended by the initially mixed blessing that is the blessed event." --Shelf Awareness, STARRED REVIEW

"A special book about the parts of motherhood that are the hardest to explain, and the most deeply felt." --ParentData

"Deutsch's story is by turns lyrical, vulnerable, and circumspect. Her illustrations are vibrant and unexpected, and the book is full of touching and amusing moments. . . . A tender ode to new motherhood." --Kirkus Reviews

"New Yorker cartoonist Deutsch picks at the emotional tangle of new parenthood. . . . Parents will find plenty here that's painfully familiar."--Publishers Weekly

"Deutsch is relentlessly honest about her experience." --New York Journal of Books

"This is a truly beautiful and special book. I laughed, and I cried."--Emily Oster, author of Expecting Better and Cribsheet

"Searching, honest, funny and beautiful, The Mother charts a relatable journey from desperately-seeking single to the early awe of motherhood, examining along the way the parental relationships that shaped us as well as the trials and triumphs of procreative partnership. I laughed out loud. I cried. I loved loved loved this book, and you will, too." --Rachel Yoder, author of Nightbitch

"Bravely raw and peppered with whimsy and sharp wit, Rachel Deutsch's The Mother exposes the emotional complexity of pregnancy and new motherhood. Her loose, expressive, and often surreal illustrations easily capture the chaos in her head. Deutsch never shies away from the darker edges of her experience, instead pulling them into the light and, in doing so, normalizing them. I imagine that many, many mothers who read this will come away feeling deeply validated." --Tyler Feder, author of Bodies are Cool and Dancing at the Pity Party

"I laugh-sobbed my way through The Mother, so loudly my children came to check on me. Rachel Deutsch's drawings are tender and absurd, capturing the total joy and humiliation of living in a body that distends and deflates to create another body. What I love most, though, is the truth Deutsch lays beautifully bare: that becoming a mother exposes all the vulnerabilities of childhood, requiring us to parent ourselves, too." --Angela Garbes, author of Essential Labor and Like a Mother

"A hilarious and honest tale of navigating the road to parenthood and readjusting to the new baby life!" --Lucy Knisley, author of Go to Sleep (I Miss You) and Kid Gloves

"Rachel Deutsch dazzles in The Mother, giving us the very specific story of her matrescence, but somehow making it universal to all mothers. It is at once hilarious, heartbreaking, weird, and wonderful--capturing the delicate high-wire act of becoming a mom without losing yourself. Honest, profound, and slightly unhinged: this is new motherhood on full display." --Teresa Wong, author of Dear Scarlet and All Our Ordinary Stories

"Equal parts moving, funny, sad, and poignant, this book feels like a deep conversation with a wonderfully smart, open friend (who also has a fabulously creative brain and a very unique perspective). Rachel's witty metaphors and expressive drawings made me laugh and feel less alone in the weirdness and discomfort that is being a human being and a mother. I can't wait for other moms to read this book--I'm sure they'll devour it just like I did!" --Mary Catherine Starr, author of Mama Needs a Minute! and creator of @momlife_comics

"Oh how I loved this. Profound, candid and wonderfully witty, The Mother is a tender self-reflection about the tumbling journey through early motherhood. You will find yourself on every page. This is the motherhood companion we need."--Ashley Audrain, author of The Push and The Whisper

"Rejoice! Rachel Deutsch's The Mother is the graphic memoir parents and potential parents have been waiting for. Between poignant images capturing the absurdity and magic of pregnancy and mothering, we witness the re-creation of self in the face of procreation; the nurturing of one's inner child while breastfeeding one's newborn. Not one page was turned without me snorting in laughter or clutching at my heart." --Catherine Hernandez, author and screenwriter of Scarborough

Praise for Rachel Deutsch:

"The hilarious Rachel Deutsch . . . loves exploring the absurdities, pain, and joys of parenthood." --Cup of Jo

"[Deutsch] captures both the absurdity and the wonder of parenthood." --HuffPost

About the Author

Rachel Deutsch's writing, cartoons and illustrations have appeared in publications including The New Yorker, PRISM, The Pinch, McSweeney's, Mother Tongue, Mutha Magazine and in ParentData, the popular newsletter by Emily Oster, the author of Expecting Better. Deutsch is known for bringing honesty and humour to tough parenting moments. She lives in Montreal with her partner and two young kids, and posts regularly on Instagram as @weirdmomart.