Like all remembered things it winds through time, telling the story of grief, motherhood and hope in a non linear way. If you want a beautiful book about motherhood, all the dimensions of it from the POV of a daughter, this is delightful. When not juggling writing, full-time care, and genetic illness, she can be found where the wild weeds grow, growing her apothecary garden. Par contre prévoyez les mouchoirs si vous êtes un coeur sensible/émotif : j’ai ugly-cried dans le train et à la gare (et j’ai pas pu le finir en public). She's an only child who forms a firm friendship with Bridget and she is captivated by Bridget's large and loving family.

All My Mothers | Joanna Glen | 9780008410605 | NetGalley All My Mothers | Joanna Glen | 9780008410605 | NetGalley

I loved Joanna Glen's first book so I was delighted to receive this ARC in exchange for an honest review and I certainly wasn't disappointed – such a talent! I often found there were tears in my eyes, as there was so much in Victoria's life that would fell the strongest of us, but she doesn't mask the difficulties she encountered. I felt such a deep connection to the author, her young son and their wild garden that they nurtured from seed and soil during turbulent times of grief and uncertainty . At seven months pregnant, Victoria Bennett was looking forward to new motherhood and all that was to come.One time a camp doctor promised to take Hungarian Jews to a “sanatorium” – a cruel trick that led to the gas-chamber. Note: My thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers Australia for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes. In my top five reads of the year; such a stunning in-depth and personal book that is part memoir, part an introduction guide to seeds, wild plants and their uses in traditional healing.

All My Mothers by Joanna Glen (9780008410629/Paperback All My Mothers by Joanna Glen (9780008410629/Paperback

The loneliness and deseprate pursuit of validation and love of a teenager, and the understanding and resolution of adulthood. All My Mothers is a captivating and heartening view of motherhood and what it means to be a mother, both within its traditional parameters, and in all its unconventional but beautiful ways. But as the narrative continued, and despite everyone’s problems, the story became one of women supporting each other: Eva found a succession of ‘mothers’ with different qualities: the Spanish nun, her own birth mother (after initial difficulties), her friends, and finally Eva herself became a proxy mother to her friend’s child.

The love of nature shines through from both her and her son, I am in awe of his open hearted approach to all living things . There’s a touch of a latter-day Steinbeck to this snap-shot of the US now, and the rest of the world. I was moved to tears more than once as I read this novel but I was completely swept away in Eva’s story and I just couldn’t put it down – I read it all in one sitting.