Becoming a mother is filled with the extremes of emotion--the highest highs and the lowest lows. But women are often reluctant to talk honestly about the experience for fear they'll be seen as bad mothers. With wit and candor, The Mask of Motherhood takes on the myths and the misinformation, helping women to prepare and deal with the depth of feeling that comes with the experience and perhaps most important, letting them know that many, if not most, new mothers are feeling the same way.

Susan Maushart, social critic and mother of three, explores how motherhood affects our marriages and friendships, our relationships with parents, our sex lives, and self-esteem. Becoming a mother is a momentous occasion, so why do we maintain such a conspiracy of silence about it? In The Mask of Motherhood , mothers will find the comfort and reassurance they are looking for, and confirmation that, indeed, motherhood is the toughest job in the world, but can also be the most rewarding.

"Maushart writes engagingly and persuasively about the fact that...today's mothers feel more pressure than ever to defend their choices by donning a happy face." -- People Magazine