This one was recommended by a friend and I managed to get a library copy on my Kobo.
Here’s the blurb …
In her first novel in over a decade, Claire Kilroy takes readers deep into the early days of motherhood. Exploring the clash of fierce love with a seismic shift in identity, Kilroy conjures the raw, tumultuous emotions of a new mother, as her marriage strains and she struggles with questions of equality, autonomy, and creativity.
Soldier Sailor is a tale of boundless love and relentless battle, a mother’s bedtime story to her son, Sailor, recounting their early years together. Caught in the grip of her toddler’s seemingly endless terrible twos, Soldier doesn’t know who she is anymore. She spends her days in baby groups, playgrounds, and supermarkets. She hardly sees her husband, who has taken to working late most nights. A chance encounter with a former colleague feels like a lifeline to the person she used to be.
Tender and harrowing, Kilroy’s modern masterpiece portrays parenthood in all its agony and ardent joy.
This is all told from the perspective of the mother (Soldier) as if she is speaking to her son (Sailor). If you’re in the midst of those early years this might be a bit too much. I remember the rage, and the lost identity and the crushing fatigue. It’s very well-written and captures all of those feelings, the despair and the joy, how hard it is to get out of the house, the lack of support, etc.
A review.