How do we reconcile the outdated notions of being a selfless matriarch with a modern-day understanding that being a mom is about learning to give back to yourself in order to give to others?
How do we learn to accept what it is we wish to hold from our matriarchs and yet also release to become empowered mothers with our own wants, needs, and values?
In Hoods of Motherhood: A Collection of Poems, Lindsay Soberano Wilson, a first-generation Jewish Canadian granddaughter of Romanian Holocaust survivors and Spanish Moroccan immigrants, compiles a bittersweet portrayal of becoming a mother.
From the highs and lows of recurrent miscarriages to contending with c-section shame, to larger issues such as intergenerational trauma, and everyday issues like breastfeeding, Soberano-Wilson's first full book of poetry, is relatable, lyrical, and confessional with evocative imagery, allusions, wordplay, rhyme, and rhythm.