The Abandoners: On Mothers and Monsters

"This year, the literary world couldn’t stop talking about the impossible tension between motherhood and artistic ambition. But nowhere have I seen mention of what remains an ultimate taboo: a mother who, as Begoña Gómez Urzaiz writes, “for a time, wants to act like she isn’t one.” The Abandoners explores the stories of real women like Muriel Spark, as well as fictional characters like Anna Karenina, who decided that they would not sacrifice themselves wholly for their children. In focusing on extreme stories, the collection illuminates how our fears of “monstrous” mothers speak to the judgments we make about all women’s choices."