Mother Animal

‘Magnificent, utterly refreshing, captivating… I was electrified by Jukes’ gimlet-eyed telling of her own experience of new motherhood and the stories of parenting and nesting and birthing from our natural world … So vital, tender, and alive.’ LUCY JONES, author of Matrescence

‘This book is a truly radical and astounding shout for community and care not only within our own species but the entire world. Read it to feel the slow detonation of mind-blowing understanding.’ DAISY JOHNSON, author of Sisters

’Mother Animal wrests motherhood from the clutches of the patriarchy and gently places it back into the hands of birthing bodies, human and non-human.’ SALLY HUBAND, author of Seabean

‘A deeply thoughtful interrogation of motherhood and the way it ties us to our natural (and not-so-natural) environment.’ LEAH HAZARD, author of Womb

‘With her startlingly clear prose Helen Jukes has created a tense masterpiece that blows societal ideas about parenthood wide open. To better understand ourselves as the animals that we are, we all need to read this book.’ MARCHELLE FARRELL, author of Uprooting

‘A tale of the turning-of-the-world told from the nesting home of a new mother, spanning from subterranean burrowing beetles, up into the trees, into the air and through oceans. So human and so vulnerable, tender, terrified and brave.’ HANNAH STOWE, author of Move Like Water

‘You simply must hear what [Helen Jukes] has to say. It will change you.’ CHARLES FOSTER, author of Cry of the Wild

‘As tense as it is electrifying … an honest and unflinching portrayal of the transition to motherhood and the way it reshapes not just your life, but your sense of self.’ Stylist

‘Helen Jukes outlines the astonishing and often brutal truth about birth in the animal kingdom … truly astonishing facts about animal fertility, gathered by a woman who has clearly done her research’ The Sunday Times

‘Joyful and expansive’ Guardian

‘A profound and uninhibited exploration of motherhood, cleverly captured, and wonderfully written.’ LoveReading

‘[Jukes] captures beautifully the eeriness of new motherhood, and its intensity.’ Daily Mail

‘Intimate and personal’ Nature

‘A memoir of pregnancy and birth and an unforgettably visceral exploration of the physical transformations of motherhood.’ In Haste podcast

‘A vulnerable, urgent, astonishing book’ Resurgence & Ecologist

‘A real ferocious read, you can’t put it down’ Nick Hayes, author, illustrator and activist

Helen Jukes is a writer, writing tutor, and beekeeper. Her writing has appeared in various publications, including Caught by the River, BBC Wildlife, Resurgence, Junket, and LITRO. She tutors on the creative writing programme at Oxford University and also works with the Bee Friendly Trust, a London-based charity focused on promoting understanding of honeybees and nurturing sustainable habitats. Helen lives in the Wye Valley.

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