This book is a good reminder of the things that are important in life, and what it means to be a mother. The descriptive writing and hot topics kept me glued from start to finish. I highly recommend!

For a title and synopsis that lead you to expect a narrative about parenthood, there's a lot of anecdotes about the author's childhood — I would guess that they comprise at least half the book. They're interesting anecdotes, and I wholeheartedly agree that the way we're raised has a huge impact on the way we parent, but the connections between past and present (or her childhood vs. her daughters') is frequently not clarified, so many of the anecdotes don't seem relevant and break up the narrative flow. Additionally, there is a lot of unexamined privilege — while the author does acknowledge that she was lucky to grow up socioeconomically well off and to have parents who made her feel loved and valued, there are many generalizations about parenting and love that aren't applicable to all cultures / families (which I found a little ironic since America, the focus of her "case study," is lauded as a Great Melting Pot of cultures).

I have a lot of admiration for multilingual people, being one myself, but the number of self-contradictory passages (including "Memento mori" followed by "The true meaning and the true beauty of a human life, in a way, is to forget about death") makes me wonder whether something was lost in translation somewhere or I'm just not understanding the point; there were also a number of philosophical passages . I'm also open to reading viewpoints I disagree with, but I was more than a little put off by the author's repeatedly framing her opinions as controversial.

Overall, this was an interesting read, but the organization and underlying assumptions didn't work for me.

Helen Trepelkov weaves a story of her life as a mother in a world she was't sure she was ready for. She brings understanding, compassion to parents everywhere who only want what is best for their child. She is open, honest and gives insight by looking back and reflecting on her decision and choices she made as a mother.
The author is showing what two different worlds can bring together for children and families.

The story is real honest look that mothers will be able to find guidance and knowing they are not the only ones.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of Helen Trepelkov Postgraduate Studies in Motherhood