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

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An intimate weaving of memoir and herbal folklore, All My Wild Mothersis a story of rewilding our wastelands and the transformation that can happen when we do. All My Wild Mothers is a deeply moving meditation on what it means to be resilient in a world that can be very unfair and what it means to carve out a space for beauty and cultivate a love of and reverence for nature when we live in a world that is all about "progress", wealth accumulation, regulations and profits. What a wonderful read this is. The memoir of author Victoria Bennett this is her story interspersed with pictures and descriptions of herbs and plants and their historical folklore and medicinal uses. Beautifully written, almost poetic, it’s a very relaxing read, like cuddling up on the sofa with a box of chocolates and watching a favourite film. That’s not to say it’s not emotional. It is. Very emotional. I had tears when her son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at just two and a half years old - heartbreaking.

Victoria Bennett is a disabled and chronically-ill poet, author. Her writing spans poetry, memoir, non-fiction and games-based storytelling, and she has She written and talked extensively on grief, care, and writing through times of change. An impossibly moving memoir of gardens, herbalism, and the rigours and rewards of care… It heralds the arrival of an exciting new voice in nature writing‘ Cal Flyn, author of Islands of Abandonment She and her son set about transforming the rubble around them into 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.It took a year of iterations and submissions, but then the book found representation with Jenny Hewson at Lutyens and Rubinstein, following a fantastic response from querying agents. It went on to be acquired in a hotly contested five-way auction, by Lisa Highton, at Two Roads Books. All My Wild Mothers was published February 2023. Briefly, Victoria was born into a family who spent their lives moving around with her fathers job as an engineer. They settled when she was just five. When she was 7 months pregnant her eldest sister was killed in a canoeing accident, this had a lasting effect on Victoria. When her son is six Victoria moves with her family to a social housing estate in Cumbria and with her son decides to create a magical garden. With little money they craft their garden from wild flowers and plants, an apothecary’s garden. She lives in Orkney, with her husband and son. When not juggling writing, full-time care, and genetic illness, she can be found where the wild weeds grow, growing her apothecary garden. All My Wild Mothersis her debut memoir, and was published in 2023 (Two Roads Books). 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.

Founder of the rural, radical Wild Women Press. Programming, delivering & producing Wild Women workshops, projects, live events & publications in rural Cumbria and beyond, working with over 2000 women. Curating the global #WildWomanWeb. Co-ordinating multi-artist projects and touring. Organising annual creative retreats for 20 years. www.wildwomenpress.com

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I am a writer, poet and creative producer. I founded Wild Women Press in 1999 and have spent the last 21 years facilitating creative experiences and curating platforms for women to share ideas, stories, inspirations and actions for positive change, including the global #WildWomanWeb movement and #WildWomanGamer. I hold an MA in Creative Writing from Lancaster University (2002). Previous awards include the Northern Debut Award for non-fiction (2020), the the Mother's Milk Writing Prize (2017), The Writing Platform Digital Literature Bursary (2015), Northern Promise Award for Poetry (2002), and the Waterhouse Award for Poetry (2002). With nearly three decades experience working as a freelance writer and artist, my work includes poetry, non-fiction, video-game narrative, creative writing facilitation, and publishing. I am a co-director of The Wizard and The Wyld, an immersive digital-storytelling partnership.

I really loved the idea of the "wild" garden and I particularly enjoyed reading the bits at the start of each chapter about the different plants, their meaning and uses in history. I found this a unique and very enjoyable way to write a memoir. Plus I really love reading about people that are not necessary famous. I always found their lives are so rich and Victoria's like is indeed full of depths and heartbreak worth reading about! In this one act, he has learnt that society has one rule for those who have wealth, and another those who do not." It is also a reflection on motherhood, of one woman's experience, given her own inclinations, personality and the effect of being the youngest in a family of six children.Stone by stone, seed by seed, All My Wild Mothersis the story of how sometimes life grows, not in spite of what is broken, but because of it. Five years later, and that life feels very different to the future Victoria had imagined. Struggling with complex grief, the demands of being a parent-carer for her young chronically ill son, and the impact of deeper austerity, everything feels broken. The book begins at a moment in her life when there is an unexpected death in the family, so grief and coping with it, learning how to manage its lingering presence, plays a significant role in what follows. I absolutely loved this book. I liked how it was structured and how each chapter began with a description of a plant, its uses, and where they grow. Alkanet to lift melancholy, lemon balm to ward off evil, cow parsley to calm emotions and bring courage (Victoria needed that – she faced a lot of adversity). I share quite a few things with the author: we have had a child at the same age(albeit it was my second, but due to a huge 14 year gap it does feel as if it's my first :D), I have shared the same worry for the wellbeing of my unborn child, but also the worry of having to deal with a potentially life long condition clouding our lives; I have home educated my first born and we very much considering doing the same for our second one; I am a bit of an amateurish gardener, having had a raised bed for some year now!. Sharing all this with Victoria made me really feel her heartbreak, to the point where I started imagining how it would be to suddenly lose my sister. I have had to rein in tears as I was reading, countless times! And saying that All My Wild Mothers is a raw and tearjerker read is an understatement!

Stone by stone, seed by seed, they discover that sometimes life grows, not in spite of what is broken, but because of it. The publisher bought UK and Commonwealth rights from Jenny Hewson at The Lutyens & Rubinstein Literary Agency in a five-way auction for publication in February 2023.

Customer reviews

Beautiful and life-affirming experience. A memoir written with tremendous care for the reader’ Jini Riddy, author of Wanderland At the time of this initial event, she is pregnant with her first child, as the story continues her son becomes as much a part of the narrative as the author herself. 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. For the last fifteen years, alongside writing, I have also been a mother, home-educator, and full-time 'sandwich' carer, caring for elderly parents and a medically vulnerable son. I juggle these demands with chronic illness and disability. All My Wild Mothers is so good! Really distinctive, interesting writing...I've never read anything quite like it..." (Amy Liptrot, Northern Debut Award).