The Publisher Says : Well, Sailor. Here we are once more, you and me in one another's arms. The earth rotates beneath us and all is well, for now.... In her first novel for over a decade, Claire Kilroy takes us deep into the tumultuous early days of motherhood. Exploring the clash of fierce love for a new life with the seismic change in identity , Kilory vividly realises the raw emotions of a new mother. As her marriage strains under the burden of domestic duty, a chance encounter with an old friend offers her a lifeline to the woman she used to be.

My review: It took me until about the 1/2 way point in the novel to feel engaged with the story. Prior to that, I had to force myself to continue reading. Overall, it was a good read. It is written as a stream of consciousness , or perhaps as a letter to her son, " Sailor". " Soldier" or mom, is brand new to motherhood , and is in the midst of postnatal depression. This is a story of both the joy and the horrors of early motherhood. I struggled a bit with her husband being portrayed as so useless and unhelpful as a parent. Perhaps this is because this was not my experience. We come to realize that Soldier is an unreliable narrator. But as the story progressed, I came to appreciate Claire Kilroy's wonderful prose and raw capture of motherhood. ( )

Here is a book that, though clearly an all-encompassing and visceral read, was one I read whilst metaphorically hiding from it behind the sofa. It brought back almost fifty year old memories of the early days of motherhood. The overwhelming love for that new life brought into the world: but also the endless, utterly debilitating exhaustion, guilt, loneliness, confusion. The realisation that your partner is not, as you had believed, your equal partner, but someone who escapes every day- perhaps to an office, where normal life ensues. All-consuming love, combined with unremitting drudgery is woven through the book. As is the husband of the narrator ('Soldier' to her son's 'Sailor') who fails to understand, to help, to be truly involved with his son's welfare. He's resentful of the little he does, forgetful of simple but important baby-related tasks - but remember, this is Soldier's tiredness-sodden perspective. She is an unreliable narrator, but one who reliably conjures up early motherhood. We stay with Soldier as very early motherhood ends, but the all-consuming love does not. A devastating book. ( )