The Abandoners: Of Mothers and Monsters

The Abandoners is a fascinating exploration of the complex relationship between motherhood and abandonment.
Begoña Gómez Urzaiz's book explores the stories of artistic women who were able to overcome societal judgement and their own maternal instincts to leave their children. It reveals our judgement of these women and how it relates to our judgement of all women.

Format: Hardback
Length: 256 pages
Publication date: 29 August 2024
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

‘A very richly interesting exploration of a complex subject. Begoña Gómez Urzaiz tells the stories with such intelligence and wit and generosity TESSA HADLEY ‘Fascinating … I suspect there are many, many other mothers who are going to inhale The Abandoners OBSERVER When it comes to children: a man leaves, a woman abandons Ingrid Bergman, Muriel Spark, Maria Montessori, Joni Mitchell … what did they give up to become the women they were to the world? During the pandemic, trapped at home with young children and struggling to find creative space to write, journalist Begoña Gómez Urzaiz became fixated on artistic women who were able to overcome both societys judgement and their own maternal instincts in order to leave their children. More than anything, she was fascinated by her own prejudice towards these women, so clearly tied up in a much wider cultural bias. Using famous examples including Doris Lessing, fictional ones such as Anna Karenina, and interrogating modern trends like Momfluencers, Begoña reveals what our judgement of these women tells us about our judgement of all women.
The best kind of book is the one you didn't know you were craving until it appeared ... self-interrogative, intricately perceptive. I absolutely inhaled it JIA TOLENTINO 'A very richly interesting exploration of a complex subject. Begoña Gómez Urzaiz tells the stories with such intelligence and wit and generosity TESSA HADLEY 'Fascinating ... I suspect there are many, many other mothers who are going to inhale The Abandoners OBSERVER When it comes to children: a man leaves, a woman abandons Ingrid Bergman, Muriel Spark, Maria Montessori, Joni Mitchell ... what did they give up to become the women they were to the world? During the pandemic, trapped at home with young children and struggling to find creative space to write, journalist Begoña Gómez Urzaiz became fixated on artistic women who were able to overcome both society's judgment and their own maternal instincts in order to leave their children. More than anything, she was fascinated by her own prejudice towards these women, so clearly tied up in a much wider cultural bias. Using famous examples including Doris Lessing, fictional ones such as Anna Karenina, and interrogating modern trends like Momfluencers, Begoña reveals what our judgment of these women tells us about our judgment of all women. 'The best book I've read on the implications of motherhood and its opposites after Sheila Heti's Motherhood CLAUDIA DURASTANTI 'A very richly interesting exploration of a complex subject. Begoña Gómez Urzaiz tells the stories with such intelligence and wit and generosity TESSA HADLEY 'Fascinating ... I suspect there are many, many other mothers who are going to inhale The Abandoners OBSERVER When it comes to children: a man leaves, a woman abandons Ingrid Bergman, Muriel Spark, Maria Montessori, Joni Mitchell ... what did they give up to become the women they were to the world? During the pandemic, trapped at home with young children and struggling to find creative space to write, journalist Begoña Gómez Urzaiz became fixated on artistic women who were able to overcome both society's judgment and their own maternal instincts in order to leave their children. More than anything, she was fascinated by her own prejudice towards these women, so clearly tied up in a much wider cultural bias. Using famous examples including Doris Lessing, fictional ones such as Anna Karenina, and interrogating modern trends like Momfluencers, Begoña reveals what our judgment of these women tells us about our judgment of all women.

Weight: 366g
Dimension: 224 x 142 x 25 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780008656072