Shattered: Modern Motherhood and the Illusion of Equality, By Rebecca Asher

Why women are the prey inthe parent trap

Like most women, I always assumed I would have children. That is, until my friends started having them and the sheer amount of physical labour and need involved put me off, possibly forever.

And each of them had supportive, hands-on fathers to help out. Yet still, it was my female friends who wouldn't get to finish a meal, who wouldn't sit down until everything was done. Asher's book consolidates much of that, and more, to really let rip about women's dissatisfaction with the maternal role, the unnecessary isolation and confusion that often results, and how much they want men to step up. She makes eloquent, timely and reasonable demands for the kind of parenting where men and women share equal labour and care.