Maternity Leave, Julie Halpern
Maternity Leave, Julie Halpern
1 Rating(s)
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Maternity Leave
A Novel

Author: Julie Halpern

Narrator: Erin Bennett

Unabridged: 7 hr 34 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/01/2015

Categories: Fiction, Women, Family Life

Synopsis

Julie Halpern's Maternity Leave tells the profane, profound and just plain funny story of a professional woman who thinks she's ready for a baby but her maternity leave proves otherwise.

Thirty six year old Annie Schwartz-Jensen is a middle school teacher on maternity leave-a time she imagined as uninterrupted, blissful bonding with her baby. Instead she is dealing with her body leaking from every possible orifice, a baby who won't sleep, a husband who still wants to have sex with her (is he nuts??), single friends who are clueless, and a mother who picked now to take a vacation. The only people who REALLY understand Annie are the wonderful people she spends sleepless nights with on QVC: Keep those velveteen table runners and non-jiggle stretch pants coming!

As Annie navigates life with her new baby, she realizes that not all Mommies are created equal. But she is determined to find her way, love her baby, her husband, herself---even if she has to wear nipple protectors for the rest of her child-bearing life.

The audiobook includes an interview with the author.

About Julie Halpern

Julie Halpern is the author of several books for young adults, including Meant to Be, Get Well Soon, and The F-It List; the adult novel Maternity Leave; and the picture book Toby and the Snowflakes. Prior to her life as a full-time mom and author, Julie was a school librarian. In her imaginary spare time, she enjoys traveling, watching television for grown-ups, and eating baked goods. Julie lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband, Caldecott-winning author and illustrator Matthew Cordell, and their two children.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Melissa on June 30, 2016

I think any new mother would appreciate this entertaining, relatively accurate (in my experience anyway) portrayal of early motherhood. This story commences when Annie is in labour. She has a little baby boy they call Sam, and thus begins her journey, day by day through the first few months of mother......more

Goodreads review by Jennifer on December 28, 2015

Maternity Leave is a women's fiction/humor novel written by middle-school librarian Julie Halpern. As the title suggests, this novel is about a woman's maternity leave after giving birth to her first child. Guess what? The character: Annie is a middle school teacher...very similar to the author. Acc......more

Goodreads review by Nadia on October 14, 2015

I absolutely loved this book. It's written as a journal or diary entry and is a first hand account of this new mother's struggle. As a mother, reading this was funny to read the super stressing times thinking "Oh I rememeber doing this." The book is just written really well and helps you side with t......more

Goodreads review by Ashley on June 29, 2016

I missed my fortune by not writing this book as a middle school teacher who went on maternity leave. It was pretty much every thought that went through my head during those hard, but wonderful, first three months with a new baby. As Halpern puts it, "chaotic monotony." You know, when your to-do list......more

Goodreads review by Cat on November 19, 2019

3.5 Hilarious without being ridiculous. Sweet without being sentimental.......more

Quotes

“Uproariously funny and authentic.” —Booklist on Get Well Soon

“A dazzling novel full of spirit and laugh out loud moments.” —BookYAReview on The F-It List

“It's wry, romantic, and so, so true.” —Gabrielle Zevin, author of Elsewhere on Get Well Soon

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