New fiction
No Mama No. By Verity Bargate. Jonathan Cape. 136 pp. $8.50. A compellingly realistic cameo of puerperal psychosis here cries out with great power when compared with the sombre statistics on the subject. Jody, a frustrated, unloved, sensitive, disillusioned housewife, has given birth to her second child and second boy. Her fantasy revolves round being the mother of girls and refuses to accept the reality of her production. The conflict is resolved by her attempt to turn her fantasy into actuality. Quietly told without dramatics or extreme emotions, except the confused tears of manipulated children, the ensuing impact is all the greater. The book is highly recommended to bring down to earth the propaganda meanderings of proponents of the fettering link between being a suppressed woman in our society and inevitable mental illness. — RALF UNGER.
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Press, 19 August 1978, Page 17
Word Count
137New fiction Press, 19 August 1978, Page 17
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