Soldier Sailor – Claire Kilroy

READ FOR WOMEN’S PRIZE

A stream of consciousness narrative from a mother to her infant son detailing her struggles with love, identity and control, and the strains parenthood places on her marriage.

Dawn arrived on Good Friday and with it despair – no sleep but I must face the day. Everything felt weird. Weirder than usual; I hadn’t had an unbroken night’s sleep since you’d exploded onto the scene – I love you, but Jesus wept. If I could just have had six uninterrupted hours to myself maybe none of this would have happened.

● If you haven’t had kids and read this book you may very well think “okay wow, a weeee bit too dramatic”, but this is the most painfully truthful book I’ve read. Claire Kilroy has completely NAILED the manic love you feel for your babies, as well as the enormous unmanageable overwhelm. Everyone should read this before having children, along with Kim Jiyong, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-joo, as both books are the most realistic preparation for parenting you could hope for. – Suzy

● It has been nearly 20 years since my children were infants so I didn’t think I was going to relate to this book. However, in the opening pages Kilroy captures the nuances of new motherhood astutely and many emotions and memories came rushing back to me, in particular the fierceness with which you love and cry and resent but can’t be without. I appreciated that Kilroy was able to make me emotionally connect to the main character so quickly.

The narration is often manic and sometimes there isn’t much of a storyline. But that’s what motherhood is: daily craziness and no life! At various moments of tension I’d think the plot was going to ramp up but, upon reflection, what ended up on the page are the most accurate and appropriate outcomes. I applaud Kilroy for a book of honesty and restraint. – Rachel

Published 2023
Faber & Faber
233 pages