Catherine Simpson’s new book is another memoir, this time on her relationship with her daughter. BooksfromScotland got in touch with her to discuss five works on motherhood that have influenced her.

Hold Fast: Motherwood, My Autistic Daughter and Me 
By Catherine Simpson
Published by Saraband

I have chosen examples of memoir, fiction and poetry that explore themes of parenthood (or lack of it) from the point of view of both the parent and the child.

All My Wild Mothers: A Memoir of Motherhood, Loss and an Apothecary Garden
By Victoria Bennett

This is a stunning meditationon the joy of nurturing a child with special needs, while creating a garden from scratch. It is a love letter to mothering and nature which bursts with wisdom, humility and hope. The writing is lyrical and beautiful and being in Victoria’s company feels like a haven in a cynical world.

Slug and Other Things I’ve been Told to Hate
By Hollie McNish

A mix of poetry and prose that includes a section on parenthood which is raw, honest, warm and gets right to the heart of a motherhood I recognise. Her take on parenthood is full of humour and humility and is beautifully summed up in the first poem in the parenthood section:

bartering with a seven-year-old

‘i shared my body with you
for months before birth
the least you can do
is offer me one of your crisps’

Letter to Louis
By Alison White

A gripping account of mothering her son, Louis, who suffered severe brain damage at birth. I could feel my heart racing as I read this book and I recognised so much: the endless knocking-head-against-a-brick -wall with medics and schools, the exhaustion, the despair, the fear for the future, the guilt when you enjoy a minute’s peace, the importance of small acts of kindness from strangers and the fierce unconditional love you feel for your child.

Oranges are Not the Only Fruit and Why be Happy When You Could be Normal?
By Jeanette Winterson

These are the novel inspired by Jeanette’s upbringing and the memoir covering the same ground – all revolving around the relationship with her adoptive mother, who actually asked her: ‘Why be happy when you could be normal.’ The depiction of Mrs Winterson and her iron-clad evangelising, and the effect this had on Jeanette’s childhood is terrifying and summed up in the opening sentence of the memoir: ‘When my mother was angry with me, which was often, she said, ‘The Devil led us to the wrong crib.’

A Conversation About Happiness: The Story of a Lost Childhood
By Mikey Cuddihy

Mikey was orphaned aged nine in New York and was sent to an experimental boarding school in Suffolk and abandoned there – a place with inadequate adult supervision (to say the least) where pupils made the rules and lessons were optional. This is a fascinating memoir of growing up without parents and in an environment where children rule the roost. It is a bittersweet story of survival and an eventual flourishing.

Hold Fast: Motherwood, My Autistic Daughter and Me by Catherine Simpson is published by Saraband, priced £12.99.