Monsters, Martyrs, and Marionettes
Monsters, Martyrs, and Marionettes
Noelle Walsh
, Marilyn Stanley
, Melissa Poremba
, Marissa Yip-Young
, Dawn Macdonald
, Sharon Forzley
, Shashi Bhat
, Janice Cournoyer
, Adele gallogly
, Robert Hykawy
, Christopher Evans
, Sarah Schwartz
, Jude Castillo
, Kate Hi
, sarah campbell
, Kirsten Lyon
, Holly Elisabeth
, Rosa Cross
, Rodney Cross
, Sara Conway
, Lisa Mallia
, Ken Gilmour
, Lynn Bechtel
, Kim Cappellina
, Benita Hartwell
, Joseph Chirayil
, Randi Ann Doll
, Maureen Brownlee
, cassandra schiemann
, Joe Mitchell
, Karen Nordrum
, Linda Leitch
, Margo Beredjiklian
, Joanna McFarlane-Frampton
, Amanda Schempp
, Susan Jang
, PATRICIA SOPEL
, Andrea Pole
, Pamela Roberts Griffith
, Barry Kazimer
, Ellen Goldfinch
, Agnes Marshall
, Mary Danieli
, Rhona Brinkman
, Lynn Andrews
, Melissa MacDougall
, Claire Gear
, Melissa Singh
, Kartik Gupta
, Joshua Lewis
, Alyce Soulodre
, Margaret Nowaczyk
, Prabh Toor
, Wendy Houlden
, Heather Belliveau
, Paula Ritchie
, Maria Mclean
, diana kirkwood
, Zara Garcia-Alvarez
, Kym Marsh
, Lynn Tait
, Marin Beck
, Lisa Reynolds
, Mikka Jacobsen
, Paris Semansky
, Brian Yee
, Tanis Anne
, Nancy Daoust
, Shannon Leclerc
, Nicki D'Angelo
, Dani Kat
, Gabrielle Wolfe
, Janet Meisner
, Wanda Brine
, Cheryl Johnson
, PETER TASSIOPOULOS
editor@49thShelf.com
Monsters, Martyrs, and Marionettes is a revelatory collection of personal essays that subverts the stereotypes and transcends the platitudes of family life to examine motherhood with blistering insight.
Documenting the birth and early life of her three daughters, Adrienne Gruber shares what it really means to use one’s body to bring another life into the world and the lasting ramifications of that act on both parent and child. Each piece peers into the seemingly mundane to show us the mortal and emotional consequences of maternal bonds, placing experiences of “being a mom” within broader contexts—historical, literary, biological, and psychological—to speak to the ugly realities of parenthood often omitted from mainstream conversations.
Ultimately, these deeply moving, graceful essays force us to consider how close we are to death, even in the most average of moments, and how beauty is a necessary celebration amidst the chaos of being alive.
