This week on The Write Question, host Lauren Korn speaks with Emily Haworth-Booth about motherhood and language in her debut novel, Mare (Farrar, Straus and Giroux).
About the book:
For a long time, a woman lives with her husband and their dog. She teaches an online class about children’s books and plods away at a book of her own. Then the dog dies, and a doctor’s visit reveals that she isn’t able to have children, even if she wanted to.
When an opportunity to lease a mare part-time comes her way, it seems like the ideal arrangement and the fulfillment of a childhood wish—perhaps even something to fill the emptiness, diagnosable and otherwise, that she has begun to feel. She has no problem sharing; she shares a garden with the children next door and chores with her husband. The horse will be something to care for, just two days a week, without getting in too deep.
But as she takes up riding lessons, faces mounting medical bills, and walks and brushes and dreams of the horse, her affection starts to become all-consuming. Time spent with the mare casts a light on the rest of her responsibilities and relationships, ultimately forcing her to confront what it means to love a being who does not belong to her. With tender humor and insight, Emily Haworth-Booth’s Mare radiates life and feeling—and introduces an irresistible literary voice.
About Emily:
Emily Haworth-Booth teaches at the Royal Drawing School and is an illustrator, a graphic novelist, and a children’s author of three books for children: The King Who Banned the Dark (short-listed for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, the Carnegie Medal for Illustration, and the Klaus Flugge Prize), The Last Tree, and Protest! Mare is her debut book for adults. She lives in Devon with her husband, dog, and several horses.
I think language is one of the most limiting things about parent- and not-parenthood, and if we could remove those labels and be more like animals, we might realize that we’re all mothers and fathers.
Mentioned in this episode:
The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir, translated by Constance Borde and Sheila Malovany-Chevallier (Vintage Books)
A Lover's Discourse: Fragments by Roland Barthes, translated by Richard Howard (Hill and Wang)
Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene by Donna J. Haraway (Duke University Press)
Emily Haworth-Booth recommends:
The Friend by Sigrid Nunez (Riverhead Books)
Bear by Marian Engel (David R. Godine)
The First Bad Man by Miranda July (Scribner)
Bluets by Maggie Nelson (Wave Books)
The End We Start From by Megan Hunter (Grove Press)
Little Labours by Rivka Galchen (New Directions)
The Cost of Living by Deborah Levy (Bloomsbury Publishing)
My Dog Mouse by Eva Lindstrom (Gecko Press)
Lauren Korn recommends:
Mare (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) and The King Who Banned the Dark (Pavilion Children’s Books) by Emily Haworth-Booth
The Year of the Horses (Tin House Books) and Alan Opts Out, specifically the character of Sunny (Little, Brown & Company), by Courtney Maum; listen to Lauren’s conversation with Courtney here!
We Should All Be Birds by Brian Buckbee, with Carol Ann Fitzgerald (Tin House Books; Zando Projects) Note: The audiobook is narrated by Brian and is also fantastic. Listen to Lauren’s conversation with Brian and Carol Ann here!
Raised by Ferns (Porphyry Press) and out takes/ glove box (New American Press) by Maya Jewell Zeller; listen to Lauren’s conversations with Maya here and here!
Winter: Effulgences & Devotions by Sarah Vap (Noemi Press)
Motherhood by Sheila Heti (Henry Holt and Co.)
Little Labours by Rivka Galchen (New Directions)
A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa (Biblioasis)
The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson (Graywolf Press)
If the Future is a Fetish by Sarah Srgo (YesYes Books)
Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene by Donna J. Haraway (Duke University Press)
The Other Significant Others: Reimagining Life with Friendship at the Center by Rhaina Cohen (St. Martin’s Press)
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The Write Question team for this episode was Lauren Korn, host, co-producer, and editor; and Chris Moyles, co-producer, editor, and sound engineer. This episode is supported by Montana Book Co., located in downtown Helena, Montana, since 1978, offering new books for all ages, vinyl records, and community activism. For delivery in Helena and shipping online, visit mtbookco.com.
The Write Question logo and brand (2022) was designed by Molly Russell. You can see more of her work at iamthemollruss.com and on Instagram @iamthemollruss.
Funding for The Write Question comes from members of Montana Public Radio; and from the Greater Montana Foundation—encouraging communication on issues, trends, and values of importance to Montanans. A hat-tip to Humanities Montana for supporting this program since 2008.
The Write Question is a production of Montana Public Radio.
