Making sense of motherhood : a narrative approach /

Popular magazines and academic journals have devoted much space to the discussion of motherhood. Popular magazines especially tout many articles about women's experiences as they make the transition to motherhood, usually expressed in women's own words. Academic journals statistically document the changes women experience as they become mothers and try to put these statistics into a theoretical perspective. Until this book by Miller (Oxford Brookes Univ.), the two approaches to studying motherhood--the purely narrative and the purely academic--have generally remained distinct. Miller combines narratives from mothers with an academic theoretical perspective to better understand this life-altering transition for many women in the Western world. Her narrative approach is methodologically strong, as is her theoretical application. By discussing the transition to motherhood from the perspective of late modernity, Miller also does a good job comparing how today's reality of motherhood fits with the myths of motherhood that were shaped in the past and are still held by many today. A useful read for anyone specializing in family services or studies. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. L. Wolfer University of Scranton