Seen Again: Light on Matrescence (Benita Bensch, The Kind Press)
Following her 2019 infertility memoir, The Art of Trying, clarity coach Benita Bensch’s second book, Seen Again: Light on Matrescence, blends memoir and self-help to guide readers through the chaos of matrescence – the transition of becoming a mother – and back towards their “true self”. Seen Again is divided into 5 parts, progressing from “Smouldering” to “Illuminating”. In “Smouldering”, her description of the isolation and hyperextension of raising 4 young boys on a cattle and grain farm in Southern Queensland offers a distinctive account of early motherhood, holding up an important mirror to mothers living and working in regional Australia. Drawing on elements of narrative therapy, polyvagal theory and Human Design, among others, Bensch recounts the steps she took to address her own passage through matrescence, advancing validation, connection and self-fulfilment as the necessary foundations for change that ripple outwards into “our relationships, our families, our communities”. As in Anna Mathur’s Raising a Happier Mother, Bensch’s warmth, along with the use of subheadings and dot-point summaries, makes the text highly accessible. What’s more, the real-life stories that follow each chapter – spanning experiences from domestic abuse to surrogacy – recognise the multiplicity of motherhood. Yet, in straddling the genres of memoir and self-help, Seen Again lacks the specificity that anchors narratives of personal development – the details of everyday life and/or the research that underpins established theoretical frameworks. Even so, Bensch’s compassion and clarity will doubtless help many mothers to see themselves once again.
Books+Publishing reviewer: Megan Cheong is a teacher, writer and critic living and working on Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung land. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.
Books+Publishing pre-publication reviews are supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.
Category: Friday Unlocked reviews Reviews
