Five years later, undone by grief, austerity measures and the responsibility of being a full-time carer for her medically vulnerable son, Victoria and her family need to find a secure place to rebuild their lives. Moving to a new social housing estate in rural Cumbria, at first it seems the most infertile grounds to plant a new life. The narrative itself is an enchanting combination of memoir and herbal folklore, and it really pulled me in as Victoria weaves her story through details and facts about plants. Her writing is passionate, and in fact it reminds me of Raynor Winn and the way I felt reading about her pain and loss too. Motherhood is a big theme throughout; a kind of hard work that takes up mental energy you don't feel you possess in times of grief, but also spurs you on with a beauty and joy previously unimagined. A stunning meditation on the joy of nurturing (and of getting your hands dirty). It is a love letter to mothering and nature and mother nature, which bursts with wisdom, humility and hope. The writing is lyrical and beautiful… exactly the book we all need to read right now… What a wonderful book’ Catherine Simpson, author of When I Had A Little Sister

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. 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. Stone by stone, seed by seed, All My Wild Mothers is the story of how sometimes life grows, not in spite of what is broken, but because of it. In this one act, he has learnt that society has one rule for those who have wealth, and another those who do not."All 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.

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. Stone by stone, seed by seed, they discover that sometimes life grows, not in spite of what is broken, but because of it. Each chapter of the book starts with a description of a plant, herb or flower, and their use or healing properties. They are nice reminders for modern day people of what nature has to offer.I absolutely loved this book. I liked how it was structured and how each chapter began with a description of a plant, its uses, and where they grow. Alkanet to lift melancholy, lemon balm to ward off evil, cow parsley to calm emotions and bring courage (Victoria needed that – she faced a lot of adversity). While life and death go hand in hand, a thing Bennet knows first-hand as she experienced pregnancy loss, it is terribly difficult to grief ‘properly’ in a time which is stereotypically presented as joyous. New mothers, in any case, are often forced to internally fight with doubts, fears and negative thoughts, but this is exacerbated when death has also joined the party.

Each chapter is named for a wild plant, or medicinal weed, its stories and healing properties, and then what follows is a recollection from Bennett's life, either in the present where she, her husband and son are trying to make a wild apothecary garden in the yard of their council estate house and having to manage her son's diabetes, the prejudice and bureaucracy one has to endure when one is dependent on the welfare system, and her elderly mother's recent terminal diagnosis; or at various points in the past where Bennett reflects on loves, losses and times of change and growth that were the seeds of the life she is now living. "In the broken ground of grief, I just wanted to see what could grow," she says in her author's note.you've captured my lifetime in palliative care. Just wonderful..." (Dr Kathryn Mannix, author 'With The End In Mind -- How To Live And Die Well) I am a writer, poet and creative producer. I founded Wild Women Press in 1999 and have spent the last 21 years facilitating creative experiences and curating platforms for women to share ideas, stories, inspirations and actions for positive change, including the global #WildWomanWeb movement and #WildWomanGamer. I hold an MA in Creative Writing from Lancaster University (2002). Previous awards include the Northern Debut Award for non-fiction (2020), the the Mother's Milk Writing Prize (2017), The Writing Platform Digital Literature Bursary (2015), Northern Promise Award for Poetry (2002), and the Waterhouse Award for Poetry (2002). With nearly three decades experience working as a freelance writer and artist, my work includes poetry, non-fiction, video-game narrative, creative writing facilitation, and publishing. I am a co-director of The Wizard and The Wyld, an immersive digital-storytelling partnership.