Includes bibliographical references (pages 194-201) and index.
Contents
1. Rethinking motherhood: instances of proto-feminism -- The chalk garden -- A taste of honey -- Play with a tiger -- The sport of my mad mother -- 2. Irreversible choice: female professional success -- Queen Christina -- Owners -- Top girls -- 3. Challenging the bond: mothers versus daughters -- Salonika and real estate -- The memory of water -- My mother said I never should -- Leave taking -- Kindertransport -- Butterfly kiss -- Phaedra's love -- 4. Daughters as mothers: the teenager as potential parent -- My mother says I never should -- When I was a girl, I used to scream and shout ... -- Rose's story -- Back street mammy -- 5. Maternal desire against the odds -- Making a claim for lesbian motherhood -- Care and control -- AID they neighbour -- Neaptide -- Adoption, infertility, technology -- Byrthrite -- The adoption papers -- The choice -- The break of day -- 6. Alternative dramaturgies: rewriting the maternal body -- Peeling -- Cake -- Yerma's eggs.