The Best Most Awful Job

"Poignant, funny, sensitive, but most importantly, heart-stoppingly true. This is an outstanding collection of essays, from some of the finest writers, which gets right to the dark heart of what it really means to be a mother." —Clover Stroud, author, My Wild and Sleepless Nights

"A wonderful anthology. I enjoyed it so much - the honesty, intelligence, fury and tenderness of the essays; and, importantly and refreshingly, the range of voices and stories it contains." —Liz Berry, author, The Republic of Motherhood

"This is the kind of book that could well make a difference to someone's life . . . every mother should read it." —Laura Pearson, author, I Wanted You to Know

'If I had added a Post-it Note to every sentence in this book that made me laugh, wince in recognition, or faintly well up, I would have turned it into a paper porcupine." —Independent

"All the pain, power and privilege of being a mother is here in these tales of stepparenting; being unable to conceive; having six children; single parenthood; and of how race, class, disability, religion and sexuality affect our perceptions of motherhood." —Bookseller Editor's Choice

Katherine May is an author of fiction and memoir whose most recent works have shown a willingness to deal frankly with the more ambiguous aspects of parenting. In The Electricity of Every Living Thing she explored the challenges - and joys - of being an autistic mother, and sparked a debate about the right of mothers to ask for solitude. In the forthcoming Wintering, she looks at the ways in which parenting can lead to periods of isolation and stress. She lives with her husband and son in Whitstable, Kent.