Mothers of Sparta

A Memoir in Pieces

By: Dawn Davies

Narrated by: Dawn Davies

This program is read by the author.

If you’re looking for a parenting audiobook, this is not it. This is not a treatise on how to be a mother.

This is an audiobook about a young girl who moves to a new town every couple of years - a misfit teenager who finds solace in a local music scene; an adrift 20-something who drops out of college to pursue her dream of making cheesecake on a stick a successful business franchise (ah, the ideals of youth). Alone in a new city, she summons her inner strength as she holds the hand of a dying stranger.

Dawn Davies is a woman who finds humor in difficult pregnancies and postpartum depression (after listening to “Pie” you might never eat Thanksgiving dessert the same way). She is a divorcee who unexpectedly finds second love. She is a happily married suburban wife who nevertheless makes a mental list of all the men she would have slept with. And she is a parent who finds herself tested in ways she could never imagine.

In stories that cut to the quick, Davies explores passion, loss, illness, pain, and joy, told from her singular, gimlet-eyed, hilarious perspective. Mothers of Sparta is not a blow-by-blow of Davies’ life but rather an examination of the exquisite and often painful moments of a life, the moments we look back on and say, That one, that one mattered. Straddling the fence between humor and, well...not humor, Davies delivers an audiobook about what it’s like to try to carve a place for oneself in the world, no matter how unyielding the rock can be.

©2018 Dawn Davies (P)2018 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Davies' collection of essays soars.... It's a memoir that locates the profound within the ordinary." (Entertainment Weekly)

not what I expected.

I was told it was going to be about her son mostly. not her life

Wow! This one blew me away.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. It was genuine and has extremely valuable observations. This lady has a true talent for writing. It was riveting and I binge listened to it for 2 days. It got me through a long road trip!

Who was your favorite character and why?

the author herself. She is hilarious in the face of so much pain. I could relate to some of the stories and it made me cry in spots.

Have you listened to any of Dawn Davies’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No. This was my first.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

the part about her son blew me away, and the fact that the system is so broken and she needs and has tried every possible avenue and cannot get the proper help for him made me really feel her desperation. I hope that she gets the help and intervention for her family and for him and for society before it is too late. I honestly do not know what I would do if faced with the problems she is faced with, and she is a strong and amazing person for having such tenacity and not giving up. She is honest and it is a gut wrenching chapter, to say the least. It was a hard and painful read, but hopeful as well. Her vulnerability is extraordinary. She really made me think about what I would do in her shoes, and I wonder if I could handle things with such courage. I hope that she gets help and I hope that this book changes the world for people going through similar hardships. It was that good.

Any additional comments?

I loved everything in the book except for the chapter on who she would sleep with and why. It was funny, but didn't go with the rest of the book to me.

in need of a good editor

wandering excellent writing. I love her descriptive painting with words but wonder why some chapters are included