Browse any list of parenting books and you’ll likely find tens of how-tos and instruction manuals of sorts. And while it’s of course helpful (invaluable even) to learn about the logistics of latching or how to sleep train, new or expecting moms also seek books that convey the emotional wilderness that is motherhood.
In this list of 11 books about motherhood, you’ll find everything from Rivka Galchen’s droll reflections in “Little Labors” to Jacqueline Woodson’s intergenerational vignettes in “Red at the Bone” and Rachel Cusk’s genre-transforming candor in “A Life’s Work.”
It goes without saying, but there exists a wide range of books about motherhood and its many offshoots and experiences, so this is by no means a definitive list of the best of all time ever. Instead, these are books that have impacted us in some way or helped make us feel seen, and we hope they offer as much to you, as well.
