Ian McEwan, Margaret Drabble, Martin Amis, Rita Dove, Andrew Motion  and Anthony Thwaite are among the twenty-two distinguished contributors of original essays to this landmark volume on the profound and frequently perplexing bond between writer and mother. In compelling detail they bring to life the thoughts, work, loves, friendships, passions and, above all, the influence of mothers upon their literary offspring from Shakespeare to the present.

Many of the contributors evoke the ideal with fond and loving memories: understanding, selfless, spiritual, tender, protective, reassuring and self-assured mothers who created environments favorable to the development of their children's gifts.

At the opposite end of the parenting spectrum, however, we also see tortured mothers who ignored, interfered with, smothered or abandoned their children.  Their early years were times of traumatic loss, unhappily dominated by death and human frailty.

Elegantly assembled and presented, Writers and Their Mothers will appeal to everyone interested in biography, literature, and creativity in general.

"In this lively collection of essays, the legacy of maternal blessings (which they mostly describe) is thoughtfully and skilfully unpacked..." (The Guardian's Book of the Week in March 2018)

"What a great project, I just can't believe that no one has done it before." (Times Literary Supplement podcast, March 8, 2018)
"In each case, these women are shown to be different to one another, whether in strength or foible, all wielding a unique influence over their children, and en masse, this makes for a compelling, and varied read. In his collection, Salwak simply asserts that good writing is likely to flourish because of, or in spite of, a mother's influence. In considering how far such an arc of influence might stretch, the enduring strength of these essays ? ." (Julia O'Mahony, The Irish Times, irishtimes.com, April, 2018)