Mom Genes: Inside The New Science of Our Ancient Maternal Instinct

by Abigail Tucker, Samantha Desz (Read by)

Overview

“For anyone who is a mother, or who has a mother, [Mom Genes] is an eye-opening tour through the biology and psychology of a role that is at once utterly ordinary and wondrously strange.” —Annie Murphy Paul, author of Origins

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Lion in the Living Room comes a fascinating and provocative exploration of the biology of motherhood.

Everyone knows how babies are made, but scientists are only just beginning to understand the making of a mother. Mom Genes reveals the hard science behind our tenderest maternal impulses, tackling questions such as whether a new mom’s brain ever really bounces back, why mothers are destined to mimic their own moms (or not), and how maternal aggression makes females the world’s most formidable creatures.

Part scientific odyssey, part memoir, Mom Genes weaves the latest research with Abigail Tucker’s personal experiences to create a delightful, surprising, and poignant portrait of motherhood. It’s vital reading for anyone who has ever wondered what rocks the hand that rocks the cradle.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781797120126
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Audio
Publication date:	04/27/2021
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 5.80(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Abigail Tucker was the first ever staff writer for Smithsonian magazine, where she remains a contributor. She previously wrote for The Baltimore Sun. Her work has been featured in the Best American Science and Nature Writing series. The first word of both of her daughters was “cat.” She is the author of Mom Genes and The Lion in the Living Room: How House Cats Tamed Us and Took Over the World.

Samantha Desz is a classically trained actor with extensive theater experience. She also is an experienced voice actor, working on a variety of long form voice-over projects. Samantha has a passion for learning about different cultures and lifestyles. She's lived around the U.S. and in London, England, called New York City home for nearly twenty years, and is currently living in the Midwest.

Editorial Reviews

Shocking and yet somehow reassuring...Whether you're a mom, know a mom (of any species), or ever had a mom (that's pretty much everybody), you are going to want to read this surprising and rigorously-researched book.”
—Sy Montgomery, New York Times bestselling author of The Soul of an Octopus

“Mom Genes is witty, reassuring, and takes motherhood out of the footnotes and places it front and center—where it belongs!”
—Louann Brizendine, MD, author of New York Times bestseller The Female Brain

“Filled with jaw-dropping facts and findings, this brilliant, absolutely fascinating book grabbed me from page one. In Mom Genes, Abigail Tucker distills an extraordinary range of cutting-edge research into fun, accessible chapters. Written in an engaging, often hilarious voice, Mom Genes illuminates the biology of everything motherly. I couldn’t put it down.”
—Amy Chua, Yale Law professor and author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and Political Tribes: Group Instinct and the Fate of Nations

“I’m a father, but I found every page of this gripping and wonderful—not least because of the author’s rare skill at making science vividly understandable to lay readers.”
—John Colapinto, New York Times bestselling author of As Nature Made Him

“With thorough research, keen insight, and wry humor, Abigail Tucker shows us why moms are different from other people—even, daresay, special, with superpowers that science is just beginning to reveal. For anyone who is a mother, or who has a mother, her book is an eye-opening tour through the biology and psychology of a role that is once utterly ordinary and wondrously strange.”
–Annie Murphy Paul, author of Origins: How the Nine Months Before Birth Shape the Rest of Our Lives

“Deeply researched and compulsively readable, Mom Genes illuminates the ancient biological roots of modern motherhood. Tucker narrates vividly and often hilariously on a journey that travels from the nursery to the laboratory and back again, out into the wild and across time. I loved this book and its rich exploration of the causes—and consequences—of becoming a mother.”
—K.S. Bowers, coauthor of Wildhood and Zoobiquity

“An entertaining storyteller, [Tucker] weaves neuroscience with tales from all kinds of mammal moms, including her own travails and joys. If you’ve ever had a hunch that motherhood changed your brain forever, Mom Genes not only confirms your suspicions, but shows you how and why.”
—Randi Hutter Epstein, MD, author of Aroused: The History of Hormones and How They Control Just About Everything

“Mom Genes is my new favorite book on motherhood: fascinating, informative, funny, and smart as a whip. Abby Tucker is the friend you want to lean on when you’re wondering how to cope with your child, the researcher who can explain a thousand weird, wonderful aspects of parenting, and the quirky thinker who can open your mind to the strangeness and beauty of being a mother.”
—Martha Beck, New York Times bestselling author of Expecting Adam

From the Publisher

10/01/2020

New York Times best-selling author Tucker (The Lion in the Living Room) considers the biology of motherhood, from basic instincts to whether a new mother's brain ever returns to its previous state. With a 75,000-copy first printing.

Library Journal