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Advance Praise for Rules for Mothers
“An intimate study of parenthood, sacrifice, and a fight for self-fulfillment.” - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“[C]omplex and emotive, shedding light on mental illness, the stigma surrounding divorce, and the often-overwhelming burdens of motherhood.” - BookLife Review
“Julie Swendsen Young’s Rules for Mothers is an unflinching, beautifully crafted exploration of motherhood’s contradictions: its devotion and depletion, its intimacy and isolation…Young crafts a deeply human portrait of quiet suffocation and self-awakening.” - Kathryn Dare, San Francisco Book Review
“For readers who have ever sat in a dark room after everyone else has gone to bed, wondering who they might have been had life unfolded differently, this book will feel achingly familiar. It’s a reminder that motherhood, for all its beauty, is not a single story, and that reclaiming one’s voice is sometimes the most radical act of love there is.” - Samantha Olsen, Los Angeles Book Review
About Rules for Mothers
Elly Sparrow’s four small children are clean and cute, and her workaholic husband is a good provider, but she often feels as if her life has been whittled down to two defining titles: mother and wife. She yearns for something more, but what?
Set in the 1980s, Rules for Mothers is a poignant depiction of the enduring complexities of gender roles, motherhood, and mental health. Elly’s struggles and discoveries paint a picture of the importance of self-fulfillment and the battle women must wage to build a life that works for them—rather than one that is rooted in the needs of others.
About Julie
Julie Swendsen Young grew up picking wildflowers and herding cows on the North Dakota prairie. After college she moved to Portland, Oregon, where she raised a family, earned a Master of Social Work (MSW), and became a clinical social worker. She is a citizen lobbyist for early childhood investments and maternal health. Her short fiction and creative nonfiction stories have been published in print and online magazines, including Surging Tide and The Timberline Review. Rules for Mothers is her first novel.