“Astute, smart, witty and brave. A radical, deeply thoughtful and essential intervention” Lucy Jones, author of  Matrescence “A deeply valuable reflection on motherhood” Rowan Williams For two thousand years, the Virgin Mary has been depicted throughout art, literature and culture as symbolising the perfect mother: chaste, beautiful, meek, mild and white. These supposed virtues and symbols have penetrated not just Christianity but wider popular culture; and contributed to harmful views about motherhood and what it is to be a woman. In this part-memoir, part social and theological commentary, Chine McDonald deconstructs the myth of perfect motherhood and shines a light on the dark side of parenting. From birth trauma to post-natal depression, from infertility to the mental load, the motherhood penalty and pressures on women to be and have it all - especially in the church - this book attempts to liberate motherhood from the chains in which it has been placed, reconstructing a more authentic, grace-filled way forward for the most important job in the world. Unmaking Mary  will include a foreword written by Beth Allison Barr, author of  The Making of Biblical Womanhood.   This is a brave and beautiful book. Writing with a generous ecumenism, Chine McDonald offers a rich revisioning of Mary's motherhood, interweaving the theological tradition with a deeply personal and honest account of her own experiences of maternal life in all its complexity, struggle, vulnerability and joy. As a feminist theologian, mother and grandmother, I felt inspired and liberated by reading this.― Tina Beattie - theologian, writer and broadcaster I was utterly riveted by Unmaking Mary . Beautifully written, richly layered and meticulously researched, this is a game-changing, much-needed corrective to the restrictive ideal of motherhood presented in the white, patriarchal myth of Mary. Chine McDonald deconstructs the perfect, passive motherhood Mary has long been saddled with, and clears the way for a maternal figure of profound humanity, power and beauty, as well as unspeakable pain. Astute, smart, witty and brave. A radical, deeply thoughtful and essential intervention.― Lucy Jones - author of Matrescence With an honesty as painful as it is rare, Unmaking Mary is a book that will remain with you long after its close. A rigorous examination of motherhood and the ways our icons form us; and a site of truth-telling for those who have, for too long, mirrored postures never meant for us. My only fear is that the foolish among us will mistake it as a book only of interest to women. It is vital reading for all who were once born.― Cole Arthur Riley - author of This Here Flesh There are many names for Mary in the Christianities of the world: Mother of the Word Incarnate, Mother of Sorrows, Mother of God. In her signature searing, incisive analysis, Chine McDonald explores other names: Mother of Rage, Mother of Childloss, Mother of Exhaustion, Mother of Grief, Mother of Joy, Mother of Solidarity, Mother of Racial Justice. This is a book for people of all genders to explore how ideas of religion and maternity influence our understanding of power, validity, truth and belief. At times a journalistic analysis, at times theological, at times narrative, at times historical, Chine McDonald's Unmaking Mary is - all the time - a powerful demonstration of theology speaking to contemporary society. Did I say it was part journalism, theology, narrative and history? Yes. It is also all fire; burning with conviction, clarity, scholarship and declaration.― Pádraig Ó Tuama - poet, theologian and conflict mediator "Sometimes you don't have to make the cake." If actual flesh and blood mothers need liberating from impossible projections of perfection, so does the most famous mother of all. Dealing honestly and movingly with the complex emotions of motherhood, Chine McDonald offers us not only a deeply valuable reflection on the topic, but also a great deal of wisdom on how to use (and how not to use) myth and metaphor in understanding our humanity. A challenging, hope-filled book.― Rowan Williams - theologian, poet and 104th Archbishop of Canterbury As a cultural historian and a mother, I found this book to be rich, provocative and powerful. It was also deeply comforting and freeing at a personal level. I wish I had read it a long time ago. McDonald's combination of intellectual argumentation and personal observation is superb and disarming. By the end of the book, the roadblocks of unrealistic maternal ideals long associated with Mary are cleared away to make way for a deep and rich encounter with the actual Mary of the Bible.― Sarah C. Williams - historian and author of When Courage Calls This is a wonderful book. Sharp, funny and theologically rich on both Mary and motherhood - constructive theology at its best.― Janet Soskice - Research Professor of Catholic Theology, Duke Divinity School and Professor Emeritu I feel profoun