All My Wild Mothers: Motherhood, loss and an apothecary garden

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For the last fifteen years, alongside writing, I have also been a mother, home-educator, and full-time 'sandwich' carer, caring for elderly parents and a medically vulnerable son. I juggle these demands with chronic illness and disability. She lives in Orkney, with her husband and son. When not juggling writing, full-time care, and genetic illness, she can be found where the wild weeds grow, growing her apothecary garden. All My Wild Mothersis her debut memoir, and was published in 2023 (Two Roads Books). I am currently working on All My Wild Mothers , a nature memoir that examines motherhood, loss, and the ancient art of wortcunning. This work- in-progress was long-listed for the Nan Shepherd Prize (2019) and the Penguin WriteNow Programme (2020). I am grateful to New Writing North and The Society of Authors, for awarding me the Northern Debut Award and an Authors' Foundation grant to complete this work. An intimate weaving of memoir and herbal folklore, All My Wild Mothersis a story of rewilding our wastelands and the transformation that can happen when we do. Briefly, Victoria was born into a family who spent their lives moving around with her fathers job as an engineer. They settled when she was just five. When she was 7 months pregnant her eldest sister was killed in a canoeing accident, this had a lasting effect on Victoria. When her son is six Victoria moves with her family to a social housing estate in Cumbria and with her son decides to create a magical garden. With little money they craft their garden from wild flowers and plants, an apothecary’s garden.

Sometimes, we try so hard to cut out the things that do not fit the idealised garden of this life – the loneliness, the loss, the struggle of it all – that we forget to see the beauty that it holds. And it is so beautiful. So, plant the seed. Find the small thing worth the gift of your hope. Whatever else comes, trust that it will grow, even if you do not see it flower.” Plant the seed. Find the small thing worth the gift of your hope. Whatever else comes, trust that it will grow, even if you do not see it flower." Bennett said: " All My Wild Mothers has been grown over the past 10 years, rooted in the landscape of loss, motherhood, and the complex demands of caregiving. I could never have imagined that one day, it would be published alongside some of our best loved, and treasured champions of the natural world. It is an honour to join the Two Roads family, and to be part of their commitment to publishing stories that inspire us to nurture what connects and sustains, rather than what divides." It is also a reflection on motherhood, of one woman's experience, given her own inclinations, personality and the effect of being the youngest in a family of six children.Stone by stone, seed by seed, All My Wild Mothersis the story of how sometimes life grows, not in spite of what is broken, but because of it. Victoria Bennett is a disabled and chronically-ill poet, author. Her writing spans poetry, memoir, non-fiction and games-based storytelling, and she has She written and talked extensively on grief, care, and writing through times of change. Victoria Bennett (MA Creative Writing, 2002) tells how she founded Wild Women Press and grew her debut memoir, All My Wild Mothers, over 10 years between the hours of motherhood, care and grief.

I spent the last decade living on a social housing estate with my husband and son. Built over a former industrial stoneworks, it was here that we set about creating a wild apothecary garden. It also became the seed that grew my debut memoir, All My Wild Mothers - motherhood, loss and an apothecary garden. All My Wild Mothers was written over ten years between the hours of motherhood, care, and grief. An early extract won the Mother's Milk Writing Award 2017. It was then longlisted for the inaugural Nan Shepherd Prize (2019), and the Penguin WriteNow (2020) programme, and won a Northern Debut Award for non-fiction from New Writing North, and a Society of Authors grant in 2020. This encouragement and early support enabled me to receive mentoring and spend time working on the book. As a disabled, low-income rural writer and carer, these awards were invaluable and I will be forever grateful for them. My ugly grief does not fit this pink-tinged world of motherhood. No one wants to hear about death, so close to birth. In my last trimester, there were no trips to buy baby clothes, no antenatal classes to learn breathing techniques for an easier birth, no numbers swapped with other expectant mums. When others were nesting, I stayed in my room and cried and, when the time came, I gave birth at home beside the coal fire, as snow fell from the January sky.” She and her son set about transforming the rubble around them into a wild apothecary garden. Daisy, for resilience. Dandelion, for strength against adversity. Red campion, to ward off loneliness. Sow thistle, to lift melancholy. Borage, to bring hope in dark and difficult times. Immersive digital storytelling and official Minecraft Marketplace Content Creator. www.thewizardandwyld.comAll my Wild Mothers has been written over a period of 10 years, and I enjoyed reading this book a few chapters at a time, and to really take my time soaking it up. It will appeal to readers who love a memoir, would like to learn more about nature, and are open to different ways of living life and raising a family. And, perhaps slightly self-evident, due to my personal interests in the topic, it is a lovely book that offers interesting insight in the role death plays in the making and breaking of human bonds and connection.