Kirjahaku

'Public interest journalism at its best - powerful human stories peppered with well-chosen facts ... A compelling case for a fairer society'SUNDAY TIMES'An absorbing, moving, and beautifully composed exploration of motherhood and mothering across the world . . . a gripping, vital, and utterly compelling book'Elinor Cleghorn, author of Unwell WomenAS THE YEAR TURNS, FOUR WOMEN GIVE BIRTH.In Japan, Tsukasa's government-funded hospital room overlooks the mountains and she spends seven days there, before resting at her mother's house for a month. The day after giving birth in Kenya, Chelsea returns to her flat in the city, far from her extended family, and her friends help her settle in. Anna, who has already been on maternity leave in Finland for a month, delivers her baby in a midwife-lead birth centre, a tradition dating back a century. In America, despite her insurance, Sarah pays $3,000 from her savings for an uncomplicated birth, before heading home, excited and overwhelmed.Four Mothers follows these women over the next twelve months, through their first year of parenting. Through immersive storytelling and deep reporting, Abigail Leonard brings to life the policies that shape the experiences of both parents and children: access to healthcare and parental leave, community and workplace support.Both intimate and international, we see what is and what could be.'Eye-opening and cathartic. It is a love letter to parents and a clarion call for better policy'Eve Rodsky, author of Fair Play 'Exquisitely reported and intensely readable ... Once I started Four Mothers I could not put it down' Darcy Lockman, author of All the Rage

Abigail Leonard's page-turning narrative of four real women--Anna from Finland, Tsukasa from Japan, Sarah from the U.S., and Chelsea from Kenya--is a "deeply personal look at women worldwide grappling with the best and worst moments of their first year... eye-opening and cathartic, this is a love letter to parents and a clarion call for better policy." (Eve Rodsky, New York Times-bestselling author of Fair Play) *An Amazon Best Nonfiction Book of 2025* Tsukasa in Japan grapples with memories of a difficult childhood as she tries to chart a new, healthier path for her own daughter while balancing onerous cultural expectations. Chelsea in Kenya endures a devastating loss just before she gives birth and finds that without the traditional support of previous generations, motherhood can be grueling - but it can also provide emotional healing. Anna in Finland navigates a complicated relationship with her child's father, but the country's robust family policies allow her to still pursue the kind of parenthood that she envisioned. Sarah in the US leaves the religious community that raised her in order to create a less traditional family of her own only to find she's largely confronting motherhood alone. Utterly moving and propulsively readable from page one, Leonard interweaves these stories with a critically researched exploration of how parental support programs evolved in each country--and why some provide more help than others. As nations around the world debate programs like paid leave, universal daycare, reproductive healthcare, and family tax incentives, Four Mothers offers a uniquely intimate, moving portrait of what those policies mean for parents on the ground--and considers what modern families really want.