The Abandoners: Of Mothers and Monsters

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The best kind of book: the one you didnt know you were craving until it appeared . . . self-interrogative, intricately perceptive. I absolutely inhaled it JIA TOLENTINO

A very richly interesting exploration of a complex subject. Begoa Gmez Urzaiz tells the stories with such intelligence and wit and generosity TESSA HADLEY
Ingrid Bergman, Muriel Spark, Maria Montessori . . . what do these women have in common

During the pandemic, trapped at home with young children and struggling to find creative space to write, journalist Begoa Gmez Urzaiz became fixated on artistic women who were able to overcome both societys judgement and their own maternal instincts in order to leave their children. More than anything, she was fascinated by her own prejudice towards these women, so clearly tied up in a much wider cultural bias.

Using famous examples including Doris Lessing, fictional ones such as Anna Karenina, and interrogating modern trends like Momfluencers, Begoa reveals what our judgement of these women tells us about our judgement of all women.

The best book I've read on the implications of motherhood and its opposites after Sheila Heti's Motherhood CLAUDIA DURASTANTI

Reviews

The best kind of book: the one you didnt know you were craving until it appeared self-interrogative, intricately perceptive. I absolutely inhaled it JIA TOLENTINO, author of TRICK MIRROR

A very richly interesting exploration of a complex subject. Begoa Gmez Urzaiz tells the stories of all these different women with such intelligence and wit and generosity TESSA HADLEY, author of THE PAST

The best book I've read on the implications of motherhood and its opposites after Sheila Heti's Motherhood CLAUDIA DURASTANTI, author of STRANGERS I KNOW

Theres a wonderful rhythm to Gemma Reeves writing, which is thoughtful and poised and pulled me along from the first page to the last. I found Mamele to be a mesmerising and deeply felt novel about mothers and daughters, inheritance, art, intimacy and desire. Ill be thinking about it for some time' CHLO ASHBY, author of WET PAINT

Author Bio

Begoa Gmez Urzaiz is a freelance journalist who lives in Barcelona. She writes an opinion column in La Vanguardia and collaborates regularly in El Pas, Radio Primavera Sound and other media. She teaches of Literary Journalism in the Masters program at the UAB. THE ABANDONERS is her first book.