Product details
- ISBN 9780715655856
- Dimensions: 135 x 216mm
- Publication Date: 07 Aug 2025
- Publisher: Duckworth Books
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
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'The perfect new baby gift, even for parents doing it a second and third time around’ Alice Vincent, author of Hark
'Will bring comfort and courage to all its readers' Nell Frizzell, author of Holding the Baby
Motherhood feels as though you have woken up in Oz and everything’s in Technicolor. But also, you’ve been crushed by a house.
Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett began writing The Republic of Parenthood in the final weeks of her pregnancy. The plan was to document, in real time, what it means to be a parent in Britain today. But when her son was born five weeks early, she found herself catapulted into parenthood: a world of crushing love, and fear, and hope.
Drawn from Cosslett’s agenda-setting Guardian column, alongside new essays and beautiful illustrations by Pia Bramley, The Republic of Parenthood is a fearless account of the first years of this new life. From Rachel Cusk to Anne Enright, many seminal writers have tackled the subject but, as a new generation become parents, Cosslett uses razor-sharp honesty and great humour to explore the unique challenges they face.
The Republic of Parenthood wrestles with the entire joyful, overwhelming, messy experience, whether writing about the impact of Britain’s catastrophically expensive childcare system, or the quest for the pair of socks that can withstand a persistent toddler's best efforts. At its heart is the understanding that something so entirely personal is also political; a paean to love and pain, and one that will resonate with weary parents everywhere.
Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett is a journalist and writer. She is the the author of the novel The Tyranny of Lost Things and the critically acclaimed memoir, The Year of the Cat, and the co-author of The Vagenda. She is a columnist for the Guardian and Vogue, and has written for Elle, Stylist, New Statesman, Independent and Time.
