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 TOLENTINOA very richly interesting exploration of a complex subject. Begoa Gmez Urzaiz tells the stories with such intelligence and wit and generosity TESSA HADLEY
Fascinating I suspect there are many, many other mothers who are going to inhale The Abandoners OBSERVER

When it comes to children: a man leaves, a woman abandons

Ingrid Bergman, Muriel Spark, Maria Montessori, Joni Mitchell what did they give up to become the women they were to the world

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

Fascinating I suspect there are many, many other mothers who are going to inhale The Abandoners. I know I did So beautifully translated from Spanish by Lizzie Davis that you forget its translation, this is rich, vivid writing about the eternal push and pull of motherhood Few things I have read lately convey so exactly the sense of loving your children so much you can barely breathe, yet sometimes craving escape Gaby Hinscliff, Observer

'Compelling' Guardian

'The stories are fascinating intriguing Truly moving' The Times

'One of the liveliest, sharpest and funniest books in an increasingly crowded field daring essays that blend cultural criticism, memoir and a smattering of reporting a delight for many reasons' Becca Rothfeld, Washington Post

'Insightful The books job isnt to convince readers to forgive these women but to offer, with immersive storytelling, a look into the complicated nature of motherhood, the desire to break free from precarious relationships, and the paradoxes of modern feminism OPRAH DAILY

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

'Perceptivedaring' LITERARY REVIEW

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

'Anyone who has ever judged a mother or been judged for being one will benefit from reading this book This generous and rigorous work seamlessly connects real and fictional women, while offering an expansive view of a sensitive topic' MICHELE FILGATE, author of WHAT MY MOTHER AND I DON'T TALK ABOUT

Author Bio

Begoa Gmez Urzaiz is a freelance journalist based in Barcelona. She has published works in El Pas, La Vanguardia, the Spanish editions of Vogue, Vanity Fair and several others. She co-presents a podcast called Amiga Date Cuenta and teaches Literary Journalism on a Masters program at the Universitat Autnoma de Barcelona. The Abandoners is her first book.