Avni Doshi
Book Recommendations:
Recommended by Avni Doshi
“Assembly is brilliant. Brown’s gaze is piercing. Each sentence is a perfectly polished jewel.” (from Amazon)
A NATALIE PORTMAN BOOK CLUB PICK FINALIST FOR THE 2022 LA TIMES ART SEIDENBAUM AWARD FOR FIRST FICTION. “The electrifying fiction debut that has been called ‘a modern Mrs. Dalloway.’”—THE ATLANTIC "Mind-bending and utterly original."—Brandon Taylor “Slim in the hand, but its impact is massive.”—Ali Smith One woman. One day. One decision. A blistering, fearless, and unforgettable literary debut from "a stunning new writer." (Bernardine Evaristo) Come of age in the credit crunch. Be civil in a hostile environment. Go to college, get an education, start a career. Do all the right things. Buy an apartment. Buy art. Buy a sort of happiness. But above all, keep your head down. Keep quiet. And keep going. The narrator of Assembly is a black British woman. She is preparing to attend a lavish garden party at her boyfriend’s family estate, set deep in the English countryside. At the same time, she is considering the carefully assembled pieces of herself. As the minutes tick down and the future beckons, she can’t escape the question: is it time to take it all apart? Assembly is a story about the stories we live within – those of race and class, safety and freedom, winners and losers.And it is about one woman daring to take control of her own story, even at the cost of her life. With a steely, unfaltering gaze, Natasha Brown dismantles the mythology of whiteness, lining up the debris in a neat row and walking away.
Recommended by Avni Doshi
“This book shifted something inside of me. With an unflinching and deeply moving account of the maternal descent into the unknown, Lisa Marchiano offers her readers a map to healing through their own transformation. Motherhood feels like plunging into an abyss, and this book provides a container for an experience that can otherwise seem hopeless and unbearably lonely. Through a Jungian lens, Marchiano calls for a new way to think about our darkness―by engaging it, we can lift what was in shadow into the light. Remarkably, her exploration is at once wise and accessible. This is essential reading for those considering or experiencing motherhood, as well as for those who want insights into how they relate to their own mothers.” (from Amazon)
Join a respected Jungian analyst for a deep dive into the emotional and symbolic journey of motherhood. Nautilus Silver Award Medalist in the Parenting & Family CategoryNextGeneration Indie Books Award Finalist in the Non-Fiction Women's Issues CategoryBest Book Awards Winner in the Parenting & Family category, sponsored by American Book FestIPPY Bronze Award Winner in the Parenting & Family category, sponsored by the Independent Publisher Book Awards Motherhood is the true hero's journey―which is to say that it can be as harrowing as it is joyful, and enlightening as it is exhausting. For Jungian psychoanalyst Lisa Marchiano, this journey is not just an adventure of diaper bags and parent-teacher conferences, but one of intense self-discovery. In Motherhood, Marchiano draws from a deep well of Jungian analysis and symbolic research to present a collection of fairy tales, myths, and fables that evoke the spiritual arc of raising a child from infancy through adulthood. After all, this kind of storytelling has always been one of the most important conduits of humanity's collective wisdom―and Marchiano provides each tale alongside keen insights into the timeless archetypes they represent. Balanced with real-life case stories from Lisa's own practice and in-depth questions for personal reflection, Motherhood explores how events like pregnancy, the calamities of childhood, and the empty-nest experience are invitations to an adventure into the wild frontier of your own soul. Here you will discover: * How the challenges of motherhood send you on journeys into your innermost source * Seeing the value of conflict with your child even while working to solve it * "The dark passage" of confronting and dispelling the energy of childhood wounds * "The thirteenth fairy"―how to recognize when we are resisting inconvenient or uncomfortable truths * Understanding how anger, rage, and aggression arise in parental relationships * Recognizing the ways that you have been taught to ignore your deepest instincts * How to navigate the inevitable periods of grief that accompany your child's many life changes * Why much of successful mothering requires surrendering your sense of control With Lisa's gentle but straightforward guidance, you'll return from this inner journey in possession of the treasured knowledge needed to clarify your values, embrace your disowned parts, and claim the mantle of motherhood in the full bloom of your empowerment.