Imprint
- Two Roads
- Two Roads
Memoirs, Wildlife: general interest, Trees, wildflowers & plants
An intimate weaving of memoir and herbal folklore, All My Wild Mothers is a story of re-wilding our wastelands, and the transformation that happens when we do.
'A beautifully written and wisely laid out memoir . . . a treasure map back to 'living', for those who have been away too long' Donna Ashworth, author of Wild Hope
'Lyrical and beautiful... the book we all need to read right now'
Catherine Simpson, author of One Body
An intimate memoir of motherhood, herbal folklore ALL MY WILD MOTHERS is more than just a memoir. It's a handbook on survival, and a testimony to radical hope.
At seven months pregnant, Victoria Bennett learns her sister has died in a canoeing accident. In that moment, her life changes.
Five years later, and struggling with the demands of motherhood, grief and full-time care, Victoria and her family move to a new social housing estate in rural Cumbria. Here, in the rubble of a former industrial site, she and her young son begin to grow a wild apothecary garden: daisy, for resilience; dandelion, for strength against adversity; sow thistle, to lift melancholy; and borage, to bring hope in dark and difficult times.
Stone by stone, seed by seed, they discover that sometimes life grows, not in spite what is broken, but because of it.
All My Wild Mothers is a profound exploration of grief, identity, and rediscovery; a testament that life and love persists, even when we think all is lost.
'Spellbinding... the most moving portrait of a mother and child I've ever read'
Tanya Shadrick, author of The Cure For Sleep
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'An impossibly moving memoir of gardens, herbalism, and the rigours and rewards of care... It heralds the arrival of an exciting new voice in nature writing' Cal Flyn, author of Islands of Abandonment
'A stunning meditation on the joy of nurturing (and of getting your hands dirty). It is a love letter to mothering and nature and mother nature, which bursts with wisdom, humility and hope. The writing is lyrical and beautiful... exactly the book we all need to read right now... What a wonderful book' Catherine Simpson, author of When I Had A Little Sister
'Exquisitely written... the most moving portrait of a mother and child I've ever read... This is a book of passionate resistance to everything in modern life that wants us to stay neat and small and fearful' Tanya Shadrick, author of The Cure for Sleep
'Beautiful and life-affirming experience. A memoir written with tremendous care for the reader' Jini Riddy, author of Wanderland
'Prismatically beautiful in its honesty and telling... a wonderful book. An apothecary of love' Nicola Chester, author of On Gallows Down
Praise for All My Wild Mothers: Motherhood, loss and an apothecary garden
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Celebrating the strength, wisdom and resolve of women that carry the cradle of care, wounds and joy, this is a work about the precarity of rural living, and the wild magic of knowledge earned in the face of that. It is a wonderful book. An apothecary of love. - NICOLA CHESTER, author of 'On Gallows Down'
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Prismatically beautiful in its honesty and telling, this book is a radical act of quiet rebellion. Staking a claim of belonging, loving and nurturing on unsure, uncertain ground - whether that's a life, home or land - and making a bewitching alchemy of it.
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Witnessing a mother nurture her son and her garden so tenderly while grappling with grief and the responsibilities of a carer was an unexpectedly beautiful and life-affirming experience. A memoir written with tremendous care for the reader too.
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All My Wild Mothers is an impossibly moving memoir of gardens, herbalism, and the rigours and rewards of care. It asks what we might be willing to sacrifice for an artistic life, and what we lose of our selves when we attend to the needs of others before our own. It heralds the arrival of an exciting new voice in nature writing.
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All My Wild Mothers is a stunning meditation on the joy of nurturing (and of getting your hands dirty). It is a love letter to mothering and nature and mother nature, which bursts with wisdom, humility and hope. The writing is lyrical and beautiful and feels like a haven in a cynical world - exactly the book we all need to read right now. Victoria Bennett's writing is challenging and thought-provoking yet comforting and reassuring. What a wonderful book. Do read it.
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Exquisitely written, this spellbinding book is rich in traditional plant wisdom and the author's lived experience. The garden Victoria Bennett creates with her young son becomes the setting for the most moving portrait of a mother and child I've ever read: how tenacious of life and beauty they both are, even as officials keep appearing to forbid their every attempt at making things grow. This is a book of passionate resistance to everything in modern life that wants us to stay neat and small and fearful.
Victoria Bennett
Victoria Bennett was born in Oxfordshire in 1971. A poet and author, her writing has previously received a Northern Debut Award, a Northern Promise Award, the Andrew Waterhouse Award, and has been longlisted for the Penguin WriteNow programme and the inaugural Nan Shepherd Prize for under-represented voices.
She founded Wild Women Press in 1999 to support rural women writers in her community, and since 2018 has curated the global Wild Woman Web project, an inclusive online space focusing on nature, connection, and creativity. When not juggling writing, full-time care, and genetic illness, she can be found where the wild weeds grow. All My Wild Mothers is her debut memoir.
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