Early Endorsements for INSIDE/OUT

“Harper’s Motherhood Inside/Out is a joy to read!  Full of lyrical prose, fascinating information and profound observation, this book should top any baby shower gift list or any new mother’s stack of bedside books.  It is not to be missed.”

Kimberly Ford, Ph.D., author of Hump: True Tales of Sex After Kids

“In an increasingly crowded field of parenting memoirs, MOTHERHOOD INSIDE/OUT stands out for its clear-eyed yet lyrical account of a woman’s journey into motherhood with her daughter. The book is honest without lapsing into bitterness, celebratory without becoming saccharine, a quietly joyful account of motherhood’s emotional, biological and physiological transformations that any parent can relate to and learn from. As an expectant mother, I would have welcomed such a book for its candor and information, which go far beyond what’s offered in pregnancy and  parenting guides;  today, deep into my mothering, I find its  reflections speak eloquently to me about those disorienting and  wondrous early days.”

Caroline Grant, Mama, PhD &

Senior Editor, Literary Mama

“An insightful memoir, written from the heart.  Lisa Harper is well-researched in her medical knowledge and eloquent in her descriptions.  A refreshing new interpretation of such common themes as pregnancy and motherhood.  Engaging from start to finish.”

Stephanie Barbagiovanni, M.D.

“For a lot of new fathers, there are two deep and inextricable mysteries: (1) All the confusing stuff that happens to your wife when she becomes a mother, and (2) All the boring books about stuff that happens to your wife when she becomes a mother. From this standpoint Lisa Catherine Harper’s funny, honest, literate, and eye-opening memoir MOTHERHOOD INSIDE/OUT is an absolute godsend. It tells the truth about motherhood, it does so in a lively and thoughtful way, and it never slips into the mommy-wars rhetoric that seems lately to have worn out its welcome. So if you’re looking for a new book about parenting that won’t make you look like a dork on the commuter train, let me help: This is the cool one.”

Jeff Gordinier, author of X Saves the World and Editor-at-Large of Details magazine

“Harper’s clear-eyed, unsentimental, gorgeously moving narrative is unlike any memoir of mothering I’ve ever run into—unlike any memoir I’ve ever read. She eloquently mixes personal reflection with philosophy, with science, with literature and meditations on art, so that the whole becomes larger than her own story and the personal becomes universal. It is a story not just of motherhood and pregnancy and birth, but of something larger—family and history, relationships and love. It is as if you’ve sat down with your wise and well-read, self-aware and witty best friend and begged her, terrified: please, I need to know everything. I need to know what it’s really like, this mysterious parenthood thing, from the idea of pregnancy to the ideas of pregnancy, from conception through birth through the whole first year—and she tells you, holding nothing back. Harper speaks honestly, lyrically, practically, and it is just as terrifying as you thought it would be, but also uplifting, and moving, and so real.

If you have children, you should read this book. If you want to have children, you need to read this book. If you think you’ve made up your mind and will never have a child, you need to read this beautiful book.”

Anne Fitzgerald, “Body of Work” at http://ElasticWaist.com

“MOTHERHOOD INSIDE/OUT is a perfect account of both the physical and emotional journey of pregnancy and birth.  As a perinatal nurse and first time mother, it eloquently integrated what my mind knew with what my heart was feeling.  During my most vulnerable times, when I felt completely foreign, its detail and honesty comforted me like an old friend.”

Michelle Currie Smith, RN, MSN

“Lisa Harper’s MOTHERHOOD INSIDE/OUT soars well above the how-to and been-there-done-that volumes that crowd the bookstore’s Parenting section.  It offers wisdom and knowledge, literature and science, grace and depth.  For the thinking parent or parent-to-be, there is nothing quite like it.  It inspires, informs, and creates a space for grasping one’s own place on the amazing journey of creation.”

Lewis Buzbee, The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop

“I don’t even have kids and I loved this book. MOTHERHOOD INSIDE/OUT is a compelling, meditative narrative on the art and science of child rearing. Lisa Harper’s writing is tender, intelligent and informative.”

Melissa Clark, Swimming Upstream Slowly

“Ask an intelligent young woman how she’s thinking about pregnancy and motherhood, and you have a deeply moving, intellectually provocative memoir, MOTHERHOOD INSIDE/OUT. Profound shifts in a life call for profound writing. Lisa Harper wonderfully rises to the challenge.”

Nina Schuyler, The Painting

“MOTHERHOOD INSIDE/OUT returned me to so, so many feelings I had during my own pregnancy, my daughter’s birth and its aftermath. This is the kind of book I’d have wanted to read during that particular time in my life.”

Julie Bruck, The End of Travel & The Woman Downstairs