A Life's Work cover art

A Life's Work

On Becoming a Mother 'A writer of almost electrifying intensity' Irish Times

 Preview
This Season's Biggest Deal

$0.99/mo for 3 months + $20 Audible bonus voucher

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.
Get this deal
Offer ends on 28 December, 2026.
More purchase options

A Life's Work

By: Rachel Cusk
Narrated by: Antonia Beamish
Get this deal

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 3 months. Offer ends 28 December, 2026. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $21.91

Buy Now for $21.91

This Season's Biggest Deal | $0.99/mo for 3 months + $20 Audible bonus

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo. after 3 months - terms apply.
Summary
 When first published in 2001, it divided female critics and readers. One famous columnist wrote a piece demanding that Cusk's children were taken into care, that was she was unfit to look after them. Oprah Winfrey invited her on the show to defend herself and the book as protests grew about the its honest, gritty account of the misery of those early months. It is a seminal, stand-out book on the complications of being an ambivalent mum in an age of white-washed, Annabel Karmel'd new families.©2020 Rachel Cusk (P)2020 Faber & Faber Motherhood Parenting & Families Relationships Sociology
All stars
Most relevant
Wonderful writing. She speaks truthfully of her experience…the ambiguity, fear, anger, joy, uncertainty. I related to it all even looking back 30 years , to birthing and babies. It felt good to read of her take on institutional advice, baby manuals, societal pressure. Beautifully expressing in exquisite language

A work of truth

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I found this book enthralling, thought provoking and beautifully written.
I felt at one with the author’s portrayal of motherhood.

Beautifully written

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Meticulously described; real, raw, flawed. No sugar coating here. I often felt she was telling my story... very relateable.
Excited to read more of her work! She's a talented wordsmith.

Incredibly perceptive account of motherhood

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
as a man I never have to consider childbirth as anything significant. this book shows the depth of change, emotional and physical, that comes with it. this is tied in with Cusk's beautiful writig

tender and heartbreaking

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.