All My Wild Mothers: Motherhood, loss and an apothecary garden

All My Wild Mothers is a memoir and herbal folklore that tells the story of rewilding our wastelands and the transformation that can happen when we do. It is written by Victoria Bennett, who was seven months pregnant when her eldest sister died in a canoeing accident. Five years later, she and her son move to a new social housing estate in rural Cumbria, where they transform the rubble around them into a wild apothecary garden.

Format: Hardback
Length: 416 pages
Publication date: 02 February 2023
Publisher: John Murray Press

"All My Wild Mothers" is a lyrical and beautiful book that feels like a haven in a cynical world. It is exactly the kind of book we all need to read right now. Catherine Simpson, the author of "One Body: A Retrospective," "When I Had a Little Sister," and "Truestory," has written a book of passionate resistance to everything in modern life that wants us to stay neat, small, and fearful. Tanya Shadrick, the author of "The Cure For Sleep," has written an intimate weaving of memoir and herbal folklore that tells the story of rewilding our wastelands and the transformation that can happen when we do.

At seven months pregnant, Victoria Bennett was looking forward to new motherhood and all that was to come. But when the telephone rang, the news she received changed everything. Her eldest sister had died in a canoeing accident.

Five years later, struggling with grief, the demands of being a parent-carer for her young son, and the impact of deeper austerity, life feels very different to the future she had imagined. A move to a new social housing estate in rural Cumbria offers Victoria and her family a chance to rebuild their lives. Constructed over an industrial site, the barren ground seems an unlikely place to sow the seeds of a new life.

She and her son set about transforming the rubble around them into a wild apothecary garden. Daisy, for resilience. Dandelion, for strength against adversity. Red campion, to ward off loneliness. Sow thistle, to lift melancholy. Borage, to bring hope in dark and difficult times.

Stone by stone, seed by seed, "All My Wild Mothers" is the story of how sometimes life grows, not in spite of what is broken, but because of it. It is an exciting new voice in nature writing. Cal Flyn, the Sunday Times Writer of the Year, and the author of "Islands of Abandonment" and "Thicker Than Water," has written a book that is both inspiring and thought-provoking.

This book is a must-read for anyone who loves nature, is interested in environmental issues, or is simply looking for a beautiful and inspiring story. It is a testament to the power of resilience, the importance of connection to the natural world, and the possibility of transformation in the face of adversity.

Weight: 536g
Dimension: 223 x 147 x 36 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781529398618