cover image The Paradox of Natural Mothering

The Paradox of Natural Mothering

Christina Bobel. Temple University Press, $22.95 (248pp) ISBN 978-1-56639-907-4

Chris Bobel, an associate professor of women's studies at the University of Massachusetts, takes a sociologist's eye and a feminist's heart to her study of a certain kind of parenting in The Paradox of Natural Motherhood. Through case studies of five women and interviews with dozens more, Bobel explores (admiringly and critically) how modern women can make seemingly old-fashioned choices to be full-time moms, to home-school their children or to practice alternative medicine.