Fabulous (Non)Fiction Firsts #838, Honoring Mothers

Wed, 05/08/2024 - 9:27am by muffy

I Cannot Control Everything Forever : a memoir of motherhood, science, and art by Emily C. Bloom (also available in downloadable eBook and audiobook, read by the author), is an intimate and engaging memoir about navigating motherhood - the joy, the challenges, and lessons learned parenting an exceptional child.

In her late 30s, Emily gave birth to a daughter who is diagnosed with congenital deafness and later at 13 months, Type 1 diabetes. What follows are rounds of doctor’s visits, decisions regarding genetic testing and diagnosis, the latest technologies (cochlear implants), as well as a regimented daily routine. At one point, with a husband on a tenure track at a university-one-does-not-turn-down, she gave up her faculty appointment to care for their daughter. 

In lesser hands, this journey could have come across as bleak but in “trying to find a way out of the loneliness and individualism of 21st century parenthood, Emily finds joy in reaching outwards, towards art and literature-such as the maternal messiness of Louise Bourgeois (from whom Emily borrowed the title for this memoir), or Greek myths about the power of fate-as well as the collective sustenance of friends and community. With lyrical and enchanting prose, I Cannot Control Everything Forever is an inspired meditation on art, science, and motherhood.” (Library Journal) 

"Thoughtful reflections on technology and humanity amid difficult parenting experiences." (Kirkus Reviews)

Winner of the MSA First Book Prize for her academic title The Wireless Past: Anglo-Irish Writers and the BBC, 1931-1968 (2016), Emily's memoir is highly recommended for readers who enjoy nonfiction that reads like fiction. Raised in Ann Arbor, Emily lives in NYC and is a Mellon Public Humanities Fellow at Sarah Lawrence College.