‘To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power. Or the climbing, falling colours of a rainbow’ MAYA ANGELOU

The story of motherhood is an endlessly rich one: it’s one of love – and all the highs and lows that come with that world-turning emotion – and, in the purest sense, of life itself. Within these pages, some of the finest writers in the world explore motherhood in wildly varying modes, from single parenthood to sisters co-parenting, from the deepest hardships to the biggest celebrations.

Selected and introduced by Candice Brathwaite, author of I Am Not Your Baby Mother.