All My Wild Mothers: Motherhood, loss and an apothecary garden

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I absolutely adored this book. It is heartbreaking, beautiful, comforting and magical, and in fact really quite a credit to Victoria that she created such beauty out of the pain she experienced after losing her sister. A move to a new social housing estate in rural Cumbria offers Victoria and her family a chance to rebuild their lives. Constructed over an industrial wasteland, at first the barren ground seems an unlikely place to sow the seeds of a new life. Determined to see what can grow, Victoria and her young son set about transforming the rubble around them. With no money and only the weeds growing under their feet, they begin to create a wild, apothecary garden. Daisy, for resilience. Dandelion, for strength against adversity. Red Campion, to ward off loneliness. Sow thistle, to lift melancholy. Borage, to bring hope in dark and difficult times... My ugly grief does not fit this pink-tinged world of motherhood. No one wants to hear about death, so close to birth. In my last trimester, there were no trips to buy baby clothes, no antenatal classes to learn breathing techniques for an easier birth, no numbers swapped with other expectant mums. When others were nesting, I stayed in my room and cried and, when the time came, I gave birth at home beside the coal fire, as snow fell from the January sky.”

Five years later, undone by grief, austerity measures and the responsibility of being a full-time carer for her medically vulnerable son, Victoria and her family need to find a secure place to rebuild their lives. Moving to a new social housing estate in rural Cumbria, at first it seems the most infertile grounds to plant a new life. My latest poety pamphlet, To Start The Year From Its Quiet Centre is published by Indigo Dreams Publishing Ltd . Initially writing in poetry, I have had poems appear in several anthologies, and published five pamphlets of poetry, the most recent being 'To Start The Year From Its Quiet Centre' with Indigo Dreams Publishing. Previous awards for poetry include a Northern Promise Award, and the Andrew Waterhouse Prize. I have also written for games-based storytelling. My work has been featured in The Guardian and most recently, at the Playing Poetry Festival at The National Poetry Library. Working with digital creative producer, Adam Clarke, on high profile digital gaming and culture engagement projects including TateWorlds (Tate Britain), Fire1666! (Museum of London), RammCraft (RAMM, Exeter)Bennett said: " All My Wild Mothers has been grown over the past 10 years, rooted in the landscape of loss, motherhood, and the complex demands of caregiving. I could never have imagined that one day, it would be published alongside some of our best loved, and treasured champions of the natural world. It is an honour to join the Two Roads family, and to be part of their commitment to publishing stories that inspire us to nurture what connects and sustains, rather than what divides." controlled, spare and with the particular magic of inviting the reader in right-up-close. An agonisingly beautiful, closely observed and compassionate love letter and leave-taking for a much loved mother.” ( Deborah Alma -- Poet, Editor & Founder of The Poetry Pharmacy) Victoria Bennett (MA Creative Writing, 2002) tells how she founded Wild Women Press and grew her debut memoir, All My Wild Mothers, over 10 years between the hours of motherhood, care and grief. This is a wonderful book - lyrical, tender and deeply moving. I was absolutely spellbound by it. Poetic, compelling, heartbreaking yet hopeful, it’s beautifully written and I am quite in awe of Victoria Bennett’s strength and resilience, and her determination to create something beautiful out of life’s inevitable grief and harshness. And her young son sounds like the most adorable, wise little boy. Beautiful and life-affirming experience. A memoir written with tremendous care for the reader’ Jini Riddy, author of Wanderland

Lyrical and beautiful and feels like a haven in a cynical world – exactly the book we all need to read right now’ Catherine Simpson, author of One Body: A Retrospective, When I Had A Little Sister and Truestory A breathtakingly beautiful memoir, the best I've ever read. This is a book to take your time with, read again and again to savour every precious sentence, and emerge wiser to life itself' (Reader review) Plant the seed. Find the small thing worth the gift of your hope. Whatever else comes, trust that it will grow, even if you do not see it flower."An intimate memoir of motherhood, herbal folklore ALL MY WILD MOTHERS is more than just a memoir. It’s a handbook on survival, and a testimony to radical hope. At seven months pregnant, Victoria Bennett was looking forward to new motherhood after difficulties in previous pregnancies. Life felt hopeful at last. Then the telephone rang, and the news she received changed everything. Her eldest sister had died in a canoeing accident. An intimate weaving of memoir and herbal folklore, All My Wild Mothers is a story of rewilding our wastelands and the transformation that can happen when we do.