Unraveled: The True Story of a Woman Who Dared to Become a Different Kind of Mother

The author Maria Housden is indeed a woman of great strength and courage to have been able to make the difficult choices she has made in her life. Being authentic and coming from a place of true honesty and openness is not easy in our society and yet Maria continues to do so regardless of what others think. And she does so from a place of love. There's no doubt that Maria's choices are not for everyone. However, I wonder how many of us have the courage to be true to ourselves. How often do we live out of fear of what others will think or in a way that fits the "shoulds" in our mind? Maria's story in this book is an inspiration to anyone who desires to live more authentically rather than live a lie. Her story and writing style are so engaging I had difficulty putting the book down.

I loved Hannah's gift, Maria Housden's first book, so I had to read this book. It is absolutely spellbinding. I have an extremely medically fragile daughter-also a Hannah, who has nearly died so many times, and 2 other special needs children. I relate to Ms. Housden's feelings of needing to be true and fully pursue her talents. I really miss my passions, and can relate to how a crisis with an ill or dying child shakes a family and relationships of all kinds to their roots and many sacrifices are made and the world never quite looks the same. This book was written so you can see into Maria's soul, and she is brave about baring truths that most women wouldn't let see the light of day. I would love a sequal to see how her life changes. I don't judge her, I admire her courage and strength. I wish her family well.

I do recommend this book because it will certainly stir up your emotions and opinions about being a mother, having a family, and committing to yourself as a woman. At a basic and fundamental level, I see Housen's journey and actions as brave and true. I agree that she hit a point of no return in terms of honesty to herself and the need to accept and support the changes that were going on inside of her. I agree she needed solitude, reflection, and to demand the space and time to cultivate her creative expressions. However, the more I read on, and really thought about how she was framing her decisions, the less I thought that leaving her family was truly the necessary way to go. Perhaps they should have still hired the au pair, a housekeeper, rented a separate apartment of the beach. Perhaps she still needed to demand space to drink her morning coffee, throw starfish in the ocean, be honest, and write. Perhaps when family life started clouding her own reflections, she needed to go to that other apartment and claim herself again. I am in complete understanding and agreement, as a mother and creative individual myself. Yet, she short-changed herself, her growth, and most certainly her children in her thinking/decision that the only way to be that woman was to fully leave the woman she already was. The creativity, strength, and growth that comes from demanding space and honorment for your true self and your true creative journey WITHIN the responsibilities you have already created for yourself - most specifically your relationship with your children - is an opportunity for, not a refusal of, growth. I do not doubt her love for her children - no true mother ever would once you see for yourself what that love is like - but I am highly skeptical of the happiness she truly ends up with. It seems like she threw the baby out with the bathwater - or rather, three babies. There ARE ways to embrace deep and fundamental personal changes while still allowing yourself to care for your children. I don't fully blame Housden for what I think is a lack of insight. No doubt society sets us up to believe in the black or white dichotomoy - either you give up your life for your children, or you give up children for your life. It is untrue and the way to have passion for the caregiving of your children, family life, and most especially yourself, your creativity, and your soulfulness is to work - constantly, endlessly, in micro-moments of the everyday to demand that space, that solitude in the midst of the hands-on work of children. Should she have given up the woman she was becoming? Certainly not. But did she give up too much in thinking that the ONLY way to become that woman was to leave? Yes, she did. To her own detriment, let alone that of her children. I think had the storyline of her life gone in another direction - she moved out, she took the time and space to explore, she embraced the woman she was becoming, she became an artist, and then she moved back to

Maria Housden is one of the most natural writers I have ever read, and after HANNAH'S GIFT, her new UNRAVELED confirms this. This book is about Housden's individual path in life and the choices, often so difficult, she made on behalf of her family. Like her earlier Hannah's Gift, it's honesty is beyond inspired. I speak with some authority. I am the mother of a nine year old girl who became interested Housden's work, and Housden herself and her little girl Hannah and went on to become a nationally known advocate and activist for children with cancer, culminating in winning The New York Liberty Medal for her work last year (at the age of 8) and now having spent a year writing a full length book herself, KIDCOVERY: KIDS HELP KIDS TOWARD RECOVERY which will be published next year. She met Maria when she was seven years old at the beginning of her journey toward helping kids with cancer, and never forgot what she learned from her and Hannah, which has led her everywhere. How can that be measured in a book review? It can't. UNRAVELED is a mind boggling read and as a parent I can only applaud Maria Housden for her ceaseless courage and honesty on every page of both of her monumental books. She and they changed the history of our family forever. Words are inadequate to thank her.

I read this book in one sitting, at least one sitting as allowed by three young children, and the words moved me more than any book I've read in recent history. The questions she deals with face every woman and mother. To follow her journey is to follow your own heart as her words resonate so deeply into the spaces we don't have time for or don't pay enough attention to. I would imagine that the first reaction to the book is one of eyebrows raised; a leap to immediate judgement about a mother who would give up primary custoday. That is the magic of this book - because when you read the beauty, love and committment of this mother and woman, it simply can't be taken away from her and her children. I learned a great deal about myself because this push and pull between judgement and recognition was palpable. We all have to challenge our assumptions and expectations of what a family or a mother is supposed to be - should be - or is expected to look like. Whether or not one believes in the "ideal" family unit or the "perfect" mother, that is simply not the truth or reality for the majority of us. Here is a woman and author who has the courage to face that, live with it, and be true to herself and her family. One may not agree with her choices and I suppose that is the point of the book. We don't have to agree or disagree with her choices, but should examine and make our own with the same kind of courage and insight. It is inspiring to see her determination, faith and love in every choice she makes. Whether or not her children are ultimatley the better and happier as a result of her choices is, of course, unknown - but that is the universal truth of being a mother. There is hope here, and I think that is the key.