Still Born is the fourth novel from Mexican author Guadalupe Nettel, published by Fitzcarraldo Editions.
The story follows the narrator, Laura, as she writes her PhD in Mexico City. While Laura decides to be surgically sterilised, her good friend Alina is undergoing IVF to conceive, but the two women’s conception of motherhood is set to keep evolving as their lives take unexpected turns.
Told in Nettel’s typically simple, unflowery prose, this is a quietly profound story about motherhood. More generally, it’s about care and the forms it might take beyond conventional roles and communities, teasing out what connects women to children and to each other.
Anyone who’s battled with the decision to have children, or looked after other peoples’ children, or even fancied themselves a feminist, will find a lot to love and think about in this honest and smart read.
