Birth Notes: A Memoir of Trauma, Motherhood and Recovery - Softcover

Cornwell, Jessica

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0349014280 ISBN 13: 9780349014289

Publisher: Virago, 2022

Synopsis

Following the birth of her first children, twin boys, Jessica Cornwell collapsed in a fever. Rushed back to hospital, she was initially dismissed, before a life-threatening infection was diagnosed. Alone, recovering, watching her body bruise and break, a curious thing happened: she stopped feeling.

At home, the numbness remained. Nursing her boys through jaundice, learning to breastfeed, slowly re-emerging into a world where other mothers seemed to cope, Jessica hid her secret - she felt no love, only fear. Worse, vivid memories began to surface, of moments in her past she thought buried.

Jessica began to name, one by one, the shadows that returned to haunt her first year as a mother. And in claiming back the words, she fought to claim back her life and the love she bore her young family.

Birth Notes is the story - luminous, breathtaking and courageous - of forging a self from fragments. With eloquent rage and searing honesty, it speaks for the unvoiced and shines a light on maternal mental health. It is the love story of a mother for her children and a woman for herself.

About this title

About the Author

Jessica Cornwell is a writer living in Somerset. Born in California, she studied at Stanford and the Institute of Theatre in Barcelona before moving to London to work in film. Her first novel, The Serpent Papers, was published in 2015 to great acclaim. In 2018 she became the mother to twin boys. Birth Notes is her first work of non-fiction.

From the Back Cover

'A young writer with an incredible imagination' The Times


Following the birth of her twin boys, Jessica Cornwell collapsed in a fever. Alone, recovering, watching her body bruise and break, a curious thing happened: she stopped feeling.


At home, the numbness remained. Nursing her boys, Jessica hid her secret - she felt no love, only fear. Worse, vivid memories began to surface, of moments in her past she thought buried.


The miscarriage. The car crash. The violence at the hands of the boy she loved. Forced to relive each again, Jessica began to name the shadows that returned to haunt her and reclaim her life.


Birth Notes speaks with eloquent rage and searing honesty, shining a light on maternal mental health. It is the love story of a mother for her children and a woman for herself.


'An original, entertaining writer' Observer

Edition details

• Publisher: Virago
• Publication date: 2022
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0349014280
• ISBN 13: 9780349014289
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 448