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A Woman’s Work
- Author
- Elinor Cleghorn
- Narrator
- Sarah Slimani
- Publisher
- Orion
- Publish Date
- 12 March 2026
- Run Time
- 12 hours 10 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
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What to expect
'Cleghorn's aim is to reclaim mothering as a radical, intentional act - not purely a biological function, devoid of thought, creativity, or labour . . . Engrossing' OBSERVER
'An essential history' LEAH HAZARD
'This is the book we need right now . . . powerful and astonishing' MARIANNE LEVY
'Thoughtful, smart, and, sadly, really bloody urgent' CLAIRE LYNCH
Mothers make history. For centuries, motherhood has sparked social and political change. Yet the acts of growing, birthing and nurturing children - and the power they hold - have been pushed to the margins, overlooked in our narratives of the past.
In A Woman's Work, Elinor Cleghorn reveals the mothers, othermothers, midwives, activists, and community leaders who have shaped this extraordinary history. They include Hildegard of Bingen, the medieval nun and mystic with pioneering views about the maternal body; Mary Wollstonecraft, who laid the intellectual groundwork to release motherhood from male control; and Sojourner Truth, who drew attention to the abhorrent treatment of mothers under chattel slavery.
Beginning in the ancient world, we learn how in each era, the patriarchy constructed its own idealised notion of motherhood - from the misogynistic dogma of the early church and the stigmatisation of single mothers in 17th century England all the way through to the post-war myth of the perfectly contented housewife. But we also learn how mothers of all classes and circumstances fought back, and lobbied to be valued, respected and supported - not as reproductive vessels, but as people.
A Woman's Work is a radical and inspiring new history of mothering, and a timely reminder that the fight for reproductive freedom is far from over.
Critics Review
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An essential history of forgotten lives and labour
Leah Hazard, author of WOMB
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Cleghorn's aim is to reclaim mothering as a radical, intentional act - not purely a biological function, devoid of thought, creativity, or labour ... Engrossing
THE OBSERVER
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A perfectly timed and illuminating triumph that consolidates Cleghorn's place among the foremost voices in medical history
Lindsey Fitzharris, bestselling author of THE FACEMAKER
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[Written] with robust research and eloquent rage...a timely lesson on the dangers of allowing outdated patriarchal attitudes to shape modern public policy.
Elaine Weiss, author of SPELL FREEDOM and THE WOMAN'S HOUR
See more reviews See fewer reviews
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This is the book we need right now, freeing motherhood from history's margins and making it the story. From the Bronze Age to the present day, Cleghorn writes about the fight for mothers "to be cared for, respected, supported and heard" and her book does all of this and so much more. Huge in its scope and precise in its research, A Woman's Work is as powerful and astonishing as motherhood itself.
Marianne Levy, author of DON'T FORGET TO SCREAM
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Thoughtful, smart, and, sadly, really bloody urgent. If you like your patriarchal systems dismantled with exquisite research and thoughtful personal reflections you'll want one of these
Claire Lynch, author of SMALL: ON MOTHERHOODS
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Cleghorn takes a sweeping view of motherhood... Impressive research informs a vibrantly detailed history
Kirkus
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A meticulously researched and rousing history of mothering. A Woman's Work is as informative as it is full of feeling
Chloë Ashby, author of SECOND SELF
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Cleghorn deftly connects the historical and the contemporary, weaving a narrative of care and resistance which serves as a reminder that 'women have mothered through every past attempt to govern who gets to be a mother' with 'resilience and ingenuity'. A Woman's Work ultimately serves as a call for action in the face of global attacks on reproductive rights, maternal healthcare, and the rights of caregivers and families which refuse to conform to the heteropatriarchal norm. In the face of such attacks, Cleghorn's profoundly empathetic, expansive history is, like her subject, a necessary and radical act of love
TRIBUNE
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Details
- Author
- Elinor Cleghorn
- Narrator
- Sarah Slimani
- Duration
- 12 hours 10 minutes
- Release Date
- 12 March 2026
- ISBN
- 9781399605465
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Orion
- Genre
- Social and cultural history, Pregnancy, birth and baby care: advice, topics and issues, Gender studies: women and girls, Sociology: work and labour, Social medicine
Synopsis
The first comprehensive history of mothers and mothering from antiquity to today, by the acclaimed author of UNWELL WOMEN'Cleghorn's aim is to reclaim mothering as a radical, intentional act - not purely a biological function, devoid of thought, creativity, or labour . . . Engrossing' OBSERVER'An essential history' LEAH HAZARD'This is the book we need right now . . . powerful and astonishing' MARIANNE LEVY'Thoughtful, smart, and, sadly, really bloody urgent' CLAIRE LYNCHMothers make history. For centuries, motherhood has sparked social and political change. Yet the acts of growing, birthing and nurturing children - and the power they hold - have been pushed to the margins, overlooked in our narratives of the past.In A Woman's Work, Elinor Cleghorn reveals the mothers, othermothers, midwives, activists, and community leaders who have shaped this extraordinary history. They include Hildegard of Bingen, the medieval nun and mystic with pioneering views about the maternal body; Mary Wollstonecraft, who laid the intellectual groundwork to release motherhood from male control; and Sojourner Truth, who drew attention to the abhorrent treatment of mothers under chattel slavery.Beginning in the ancient world, we learn how in each era, the patriarchy constructed its own idealised notion of motherhood - from the misogynistic dogma of the early church and the stigmatisation of single mothers in 17th century England all the way through to the post-war myth of the perfectly contented housewife. But we also learn how mothers of all classes and circumstances fought back, and lobbied to be valued, respected and supported - not as reproductive vessels, but as people. A Woman's Work is a radical and inspiring new history of mothering, and a timely reminder that the fight for reproductive freedom is far from over.
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