{"product_id":"stepmother-by-helen-mort-9781784746445","title":"STEPMOTHER","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eForward Prize-shortlisted poet Helen Mort embarks on a personal quest to understand that most maligned of figures: the stepmother - from the put-upon parent of the blended family, to the wicked queen.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eEuripides said \"better a serpent than a stepmother.\"\u003c\/em\u003e For a moment, you like the idea of being a single line, winding around everything you touch. A vine.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBrave, graceful and absolutely vital - Mort shoulders away the old trope of the stepmother and replaces her with a host of humane women\u003c\/em\u003e - SARAH HALL, author of \u003cem\u003eHelm\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhen a new relationship casts poet Helen Mort in the role of stepmother, she embarks on a personal quest for understanding; moving across verse and personal essay, from fairytale to modern blended family.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTurning a bold and inventive gaze on this neglected dimension of female experience, these are candid dispatches from the shifting terrain of the modern family. As playful as it is moving, \u003cem\u003eStepmother\u003c\/em\u003e radiates Mort's signature empathetic warmth, but with the bite of truth.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMort interleaves ravishing fragments of lyric essay with gothic flights into verse that draw us deep into the woods of upon-a-time, and back, changed, into the now. Groundbreaking and transformative, tender and uncompromising, \u003cem\u003eStepmother\u003c\/em\u003e has much to teach us about female power and the fear it still provokes, our openness to change, and the surprising shapes love can take.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eI was enchanted by her blend of generous lyric and furious cultural critique. A spell for seeing differently\u003c\/em\u003e - CLARE POLLARD, author of \u003cem\u003eThe Modern Fairies\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47976742519020,"sku":"9781784746445","price":38.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781784746445-stepmother.jpg?v=1784698593","url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/products\/stepmother-by-helen-mort-9781784746445","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}