Splinters

Splinters centers on two defining moments in essayist Leslie Jamison’s life that happened to coincide: the birth of her daughter and her separation from her husband. The book keeps Jamison’s ex at a respectful but sometimes frustrating distance. So the “splinters” (or chapters) focus instead on flashbacks earlier in the marriage, attempts at romance after the breakup, and—most compellingly—motherhood. Scenes of Jamison pushing a stroller aimlessly through museums desperate to engage her mind beyond questions about burping the baby and sprinting down halls in order to breastfeed while on a book tour will resonate with many a new mom. The memoir touches on some of the same questions Jenny Offill asked in her 2014 hit, Dept. of Speculation: Can mothers be “art monsters”—creatives who devour their personal lives and spit them back out as works of great art? Refreshingly, Jamison doesn’t ring a death knell for creativity while parenting. She writes admiringly of other artists who find ways to incorporate their children into their work or to carve out lives for themselves separate from their families. She also doesn’t repeat cliches about children as a source of inspiration. Instead, she writes evocatively about her infatuation with her young daughter. The book has no neat ending or moral and is the better for it. Jamison writes, “I wasn’t sure what narrative arc I was tracking, or what ending I deserve.”

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