When Will I Sleep Through the Night?

This is a Book Week post for the Mother’s Day theme.

For most people, having your first baby is a voyage into the great unknown, a turning point after which your life will never be the same again. When Will I Sleep Through the Night? is a beautifully written account of one woman’s experience of pregnancy and the first year of her child’s life. Composed in diary-style entries, it is a record of the day-to-day reality of having a baby and an honest portrait of the frustration, fear and overwhelming love that come with it.

By turns funny, moving and reassuring, this is a book that doesn’t try to tell you what to do or what to feel, but instead crafts a story that is both intimate and universal: an A–Z of babyhood.

I’ve only dipped into my copy of this, rather than read it cover to cover (it did only arrive a couple of days ago), but what I have read is humorous and familiar. It reminds me of dipping in and out of a blog, with bite-size chunks to nibble on (sorry, horrendous mixed metaphor there) while the children run around or while breastfeeding. I think it would make an ideal gift for a new mother, even if (or perhaps because) it is a warts-and-all account.

You can buy a copy on Amazon, or two lucky readers will be able to win their own copies. Check out the giveaways post, later this evening for details.