Impossible Motherhood: Testimony of an Abortion Addict

Vilar, Irene

3.48

351 ratings by Goodreads

9781511383899: Impossible Motherhood: Testimony of an Abortion Addict

ISBN 10: 1511383895 ISBN 13: 9781511383899

Publisher: Audible Studios on Brilliance audio, 2016

Irene Vilar was just a pliant young college undergraduate in thrall to her professor when they embarked on a relationship that led to marriage—a union of impossible odds—and 15 abortions in 15 years. Vilar knows that she is destined to be misunderstood, that many will see her nightmare as an instance of abusing a right, of using abortion as a means of birth control. But it isn't that. The real story is part of an awful secret, shrouded in shame, colonialism, self-mutilation, and a family legacy that features a heroic grandmother, a suicidal mother, and two heroin-addicted brothers. It is a story that looks back on her traumatic childhood growing up in the shadow of her mother's death and the footsteps of her famed grandmother, the political activist Lolita Lebrn, and a history that touches on American exploitation and reproductive repression in Puerto Rico. Vilar seamlessly weaves together past, present, and future, channeling a narrative that is at once dramatic and subtle.

Impossible Motherhood is a heartrending and ultimately triumphant testimonial told by a writer looking back on her history of addiction. Abortion has never offered any honest person easy answers. Vilar's dark journey through self-inflicted wounds, compulsive patterns, and historical hauntings is a powerful story of loss and mourning that bravely delves into selfhood, national identity, reproductive freedom, family responsibility, and finally motherhood itself—today, Vilar is the mother of two beautiful children.

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Review:

" ""Nuanced, intellectually ambitious and unnervingly frank."--"The Washington Post
"
"The strength of ["Impossible Motherhood"] lies in exposing the need to talk about abortion as a public health issue. It's impossible to take abortion out of the realm of morality, religion and politics and place it solely in the medical realm, along with diabetes and cancer and high cholesterol. But it is crucial to see it, first and foremost, as an issue of the human body: a woman's body."--"The Miami Herald"
"Extraordinary and incendiary...a potential launching pad for a discussion about abortion that is more personal than political...Vilar turns her experiences into a reminder that the complexity of abortion extends beyond the scientific and political arenas..."Impossible Motherhood" doesn't shy away from the wounds that are part of Vilar's journey toward independence; it embraces them, making her remarkable story full of assurance but free of bitterness."--"Bitch Magazine"
""Impossible Motherhood" tells why [Irene Vilar] had 15 abortions in 16 years...How is that humanly possible in either sense of the word--the moral or the physical? In the telling, however, it seems as inevitable as sunrise...Vilar, who eventually escaped this horrid cycle to have two children, writes not to excuse, but to explain herself." --"Elle" Magazine
"In "Impossible Motherhood" Vilar does exactly what the best memoirists do: She tells us the truth about everything, even when the truth utterly confounds....[Vilar] tells [her story] to us with courage and grace and a true writer's skill."--"The Oregonian"
"
""Vilar does not mean to advocate on either side of the abortion debate; ranging far beyond the politics of abortion, her book is a controversial and intense tale of generational and national trauma...[Vilar is] a writer of brutal honesty and profound intelligence."--"ForeWord Magazine"
""Impossible Motherhood" is like a journey into a harrowing underworld but guided by Vilar's gifts and her light we emerge in the end transformed, enlightened, and oh so alive." -JUNOT DIAZ, AUTHOR OF "THE BRIEF WONDROUS LI FE OF OSCAR WAO
"
"I have never read a book like "Impossible Motherhood," Irene Vilar's disturbing, heart-wrenching, and ultimately triumphant memoir, for the simple and understandable reason that no one of her gender has ever summoned the brutally raw, transcendent courage to write such a book-and yes, confess to such a troubling story." -BOB SHACOCHIS, AUTHOR OF "EASY IN THE IS LANDS
"
"Irene Vilar's dramatic and beautifully drawn story forces the reader to confront the power of sexuality and procreation that often is the only power a young woman perceives she owns in this world. IMPOSSIBLE MOTHERHOOD is profound, raw, wrenching, and honest to the bone. Yet despite the title, its message is that no matter how intense the pain one has experienced, healing and redemption are in fact possible."--Gloria Feldt

Nuanced, intellectually ambitious and unnervingly frank. The Washington Post

The strength of [Impossible Motherhood] lies in exposing the need to talk about abortion as a public health issue. It's impossible to take abortion out of the realm of morality, religion and politics and place it solely in the medical realm, along with diabetes and cancer and high cholesterol. But it is crucial to see it, first and foremost, as an issue of the human body: a woman's body. The Miami Herald
Extraordinary and incendiary a potential launching pad for a discussion about abortion that is more personal than political Vilar turns her experiences into a reminder that the complexity of abortion extends beyond the scientific and political arenas Impossible Motherhood doesn t shy away from the wounds that are part of Vilar s journey toward independence; it embraces them, making her remarkable story full of assurance but free of bitterness. Bitch Magazine
"Impossible Motherhood tells why [Irene Vilar] had 15 abortions in 16 years How is that humanly possible in either sense of the word the moral or the physical? In the telling, however, it seems as inevitable as sunrise...Vilar, who eventually escaped this horrid cycle to have two children, writes not to excuse, but to explain herself." Elle Magazine
In Impossible Motherhood Vilar does exactly what the best memoirists do: She tells us the truth about everything, even when the truth utterly confounds .[Vilar] tells [her story] to us with courage and grace and a true writer s skill. The Oregonian

"Vilar does not mean to advocate on either side of the abortion debate; ranging far beyond the politics of abortion, her book is a controversial and intense tale of generational and national trauma [Vilar is] a writer of brutal honesty and profound intelligence." ForeWord Magazine
"Impossible Motherhood is like a journey into a harrowing underworld but guided by Vilar's gifts and her light we emerge in the end transformed, enlightened, and oh so alive." JUNOT DIAZ, AUTHOR OF THE BRIEF WONDROUS LI FE OF OSCAR WAO

"I have never read a book like Impossible Motherhood, Irene Vilar's disturbing, heart-wrenching, and ultimately triumphant memoir, for the simple and understandable reason that no one of her gender has ever summoned the brutally raw, transcendent courage to write such a book and yes, confess to such a troubling story." BOB SHACOCHIS, AUTHOR OF EASY IN THE IS LANDS

"Irene Vilar's dramatic and beautifully drawn story forces the reader to confront the power of sexuality and procreation that often is the only power a young woman perceives she owns in this world. IMPOSSIBLE MOTHERHOOD is profound, raw, wrenching, and honest to the bone. Yet despite the title, its message is that no matter how intense the pain one has experienced, healing and redemption are in fact possible." Gloria Feldt"

About the Author:

Irene Vilar
Irene Vilar was born in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. Her memoir The Ladies' Gallery (Other Press, 2009) was a Philadelphia Inquirer and Detroit Free Press notable book of the year and was short-listed for the 1999 Mind Book of the Year Award. She is a literary agent and editor of The Americas series at Texas Tech University Press.

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