Panic and Joy

My Solo Path to Motherhood

By: Emma Brockes

Narrated by: Emma Brockes

Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

An explosive and hilarious memoir about the exceptional and life-changing decision to conceive a child on one's own via assisted reproduction.

When British journalist, memoirist, and New York-transplant Emma Brockes decides to become pregnant, she quickly realizes that, being single, 37, and in the early stages of a same-sex relationship, she's going to have to be untraditional about it. From the moment she decides to stop "futzing" around, have her eggs counted, and "get cracking"; through multiple rounds of IUI; to the births of her twins, which her girlfriend gamely documents with her iPhone and selfie stick, Brockes brings the listener every step of the way - all the while exploring the cultural circumstances and choices that have brought her to this point. With mordant wit and remarkable candor, Brockes shares the frustrations, embarrassments, surprises, and, finally, joys of her momentous and excellent choice.

©2018 Emma Brockes (P)2018 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“[A] splendid and fascinating book. [Brockes’s] memoir is subtitled Panic and Joy on My Solo Path to Motherhood, but I saw no time when Brockes - supremely confident, sensible and twice as smart as anyone else in the room - panicked. She is cool, methodical and, at times, insanely funny, with a great eye for the ironies and amusements of life…There is no doubt that her decision - at least for us readers - was an excellent one indeed.” (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

“The book speaks to a growing contingent of would-be parents who reach their 30s and 40s and find they have the means and motivation to have kids outside of a conventional domestic partnership, embracing their chosen single parenthood as a form of empowerment. It seems as if almost everyone bearing a child is writing a book about it, but Brockes is too original a personality to fall in quietly with the rest. A disarming and casually hilarious take on the opposite of co-parenting.” (Kirkus)

“Brockes’ second memoir will have readers caught up in the excitement and anxiety of pregnancy along with her. Her humor and empathy shine through, even during her most challenging moments. Whether parents, aspiring parents, or happily child-free, readers will enjoy Brockes’ intimate story of how she became a mother.” (Booklist)