"Would I do it again, understanding as I do now and didn't then, that failure at motherhood is for life and beyond, that everything that happens to my children and my children's children is my fault?...Love is not enough, when it comes to children."

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Let me start with a disclaimer: my review might be a little biased because (a) I’ve loved every Sarah Moss book I’ve read; and (b) this one features some of my favorite things - non-conforming women, Scottish islands, hopelessness, and death. I had a strong feeling I'd enjoy Night Waking, and it didn’t disappoint.

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The story centers on Anna, an academic trying to write a book while navigating the chaos of parenting two young children on a remote Scottish island where her frckless husband spends his days counting puffins. While gardening, Anna discovers the body of an infant, which draws her into the island’s history and the lives of the women who lived there before her.

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Moss has an extraordinary gift for characterisation, particularly so in the case of dark and complex female protagonists. In Night Waking, this creates an unflinching but uncanny portrait of motherhood. Moss doesn’t sugarcoat what is often described (presumably by men) as the most joyful time in a woman’s life. Instead, she depicts an exhausting, infuriating, and thankless, but often funny, reality. As someone who started a university course with a four-week-old baby and a husband who believed he was the only member of the household doing anything useful, I found Anna’s interactions with her husband too familiar, so much so that I actually had to set the book down a few times to let the murdery feelings subside. 

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Night Waking is bleak, thought-provoking, and brimming with uncomfortable truths. Maybe that's not your cup of tea, but if you enjoy dark, complex characters and don’t shy away from a bit of gallows humor, I can’t recommend this book highly enough. 

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