Linea Nigra
by
87/99
Critics' Rating Index
67/99
Readers' Rating Index
n/a
Scholars' Citation Index
51/99
Volume of Reviews
36/99
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About This Book
Simultaneously a work of collaboration between mother and child and a diary of worry and joy, Linea Nigra is an intimate exploration of childbearing from the celebrated author of On Lighthouses. Drawing from a wide range of inspirations and traditions, from Louise Bourgeois to Ursula K. Le Guin to the influential indigenous Nahua model Luz Jiménez, Barrera's treatise is as philosophical as it is candid. It is a book that clarifies motherhood, but also celebrates the mysteries of the body—like the linea nigra, the black line, itself. Writing over the course of her first pregnancy, birthing, breastfeeding, and young motherhood, Barrera embraces her subject fully. She intersperses notes from her reading life, making lucid connections between maternity and earthquakes, lunar eclipses, plants, and animals. She sends out an impassioned call for a great proliferation of pregnancy books: for more writing by the expectant; for a canon and a counter-canon of motherhood prose—each of them a shrine and generous guide to all of these radical acts.
Reviews
"'It's impossible to be original when you write about being a mother,' Barrera reflects, though her own originality is striking."
"Rather than adhering to a traditional narrative structure, the author follows her trains of thought wherever they take her, and readers will be happy to tag along ..."
"Like parenthood, a translated text is often a co-creation."
"Prepare to feel in awe of the female body and of Barrera's way with words."
"In the honestly rendered birth and breastfeeding scenes grounding Barrera's essay, conceiving and bearing a child is not merely an instinctual process: a text writing itself."
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