CW: unwanted pregnancy

I like reading books that connect to current events and life, as they help me with processing. So after Roe v Wade, I thought a book about a woman pregnant with her fourth thinking complicated thoughts about family and her place in society would be a good read. I was only a few pages in when she notes that her pregnancy was due to a failed Lippes Loop (an IUD used in the 60s-80s), and she’d looked at terminating, but it was still illegal (“what would a backstreet abortionist do with a Loop?”). 

The book spans over a single night, starting after her children have gone to bed. Her husband is a journalist in Kathmandu, and Minn is mostly alone with her thoughts, except the odd visitor and when the afterparty of The Honeyman Festival shows up. Minn was a lover of the Director Honeyman, when she was younger and living in Europe, even acting in some of the films. Through the evening, she reminisces on her experiences of being young and liberated, living in Paris and Italy, in contrast to her current life: pregnant mother of three renting a massive run-down house in downtown Toronto with cockroaches, subletting the attic rooms to young hippies. 

 

Not having any children, I’d love to get thoughts from a parent on this book, but to me she felt so real. She pees (reprimanding herself -- ladies say “tinkle”) frequently through the book . She loves her children but wants to escape motherhood. She’s not sure about this fourth -- taking up so much space both mentally and physically. There is no escaping her lot, but she is also not resigned. When cops show up at 2AM looking for one of her sublets, she asks for a warrant. When they enter without one, she literally beats the shit out of one of the cops until they leave. I thought the character of Minn was amazing, and spending a night with her, even in her dark thoughts, was interesting, and entertaining. She’s funny and wry, but also painfully on point. A great book for anybody who likes feminist reads.

Also be warned: the book does use derogatory language to refer to mentally disabled people.