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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'"If I had known...what giving birth was to cost me, would I have dared to fall pregnant?Yes, yes. A thousand times, yes."Accalaimed novelist Susan Johnson found, at age thirty-five, that her arms began to feel "empty." Soon her desire to have a baby became overwhelming. She had no inkling then what motherhood would cost her -- or give her. But as she went on to experience pregnancy and birth, and their impact on her marriage, her health, and her heart, she recorded it all in a black-and-red notebook. Here, Susan Johnson takes that raw, potentially wrenching material and creates an inspirational work of autobiography.In a hauntingly lovely account, Johnson portrays a woman transformed by motherhood, and a writer forever changed by a widening chasm of experience. Simple acts such as getting her newborn to breastfeed prove unexpectedly difficult. The husband she adores becomes a sparring partner, their newly purchased home a disaster, her time to write nonexistent. Then, just when she believes she may be getting her life together, she becomes pregnant again.Soon ecstasy jostles against bewilderment, rage, and despair when she develops a rare complication of childbirth. Facing major surgery, Susan calls herself "a one-woman catastrophe, a small ruined country." She is also going to bed at night planning what she will write in the morning, burning to get words on paper.The mesmerizing narrative she created is "A Better Woman," a chronicle of love and courage, by turns poetic and searingly graphic. It should be required reading for every woman hungry to give birth -- and every mother yearning to have her deepest feeling heard.' (Publication summary)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Sound recording.
Works about this Work
-
Between Two Worlds: A Narrative of the Split Self
2009
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Southern Postcolonialisms: The Global South and the 'New' Literary Representations 2009; (p. 196-204) -
The Maternal Heroine
2005
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Cultural Studies Review , March vol. 11 no. 1 2005; (p. 129-141) -
Charmian, George and Susan, Too
2004
single work
column
— Appears in: The Age , 4 December 2004; (p. 3) -
Words to Conjure With : Non-Fiction
Stephanie Holt
,
Michael George Smith
,
2000
single work
column
— Appears in: The Age , 5 August 2000; (p. 7) -
Bearing This New Life, a Painful Journey of Self-Discovery
1999
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 24 July 1999; (p. 9)
— Review of A Better Woman 1999 single work autobiography
-
Written on the Body
1999
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 21 August 1999; (p. 21)
— Review of A Better Woman 1999 single work autobiography -
Artful Care
1999
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , October no. 215 1999; (p. 6-7)
— Review of A Better Woman 1999 single work autobiography -
Embodied
1999
single work
review
— Appears in: The Australian's Review of Books , September vol. 4 no. 8 1999; (p. 6-7)
— Review of A Better Woman 1999 single work autobiography -
Bearing This New Life, a Painful Journey of Self-Discovery
1999
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 24 July 1999; (p. 9)
— Review of A Better Woman 1999 single work autobiography -
Charmian, George and Susan, Too
2004
single work
column
— Appears in: The Age , 4 December 2004; (p. 3) -
The Maternal Heroine
2005
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Cultural Studies Review , March vol. 11 no. 1 2005; (p. 129-141) -
Between Two Worlds: A Narrative of the Split Self
2009
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Southern Postcolonialisms: The Global South and the 'New' Literary Representations 2009; (p. 196-204) -
Words to Conjure With : Non-Fiction
Stephanie Holt
,
Michael George Smith
,
2000
single work
column
— Appears in: The Age , 5 August 2000; (p. 7)
Awards
- 2000 shortlisted National Biography Award
Last amended 29 Jun 2020 14:04:17
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