Frances Greenslade turns her keen eye to the familiar subject of motherhood, and renders it new. In an era when women know exactly “what to expect,” as well as how they’ll give birth, feed their babies, and whether they’ll go back to work or stay at home, the reality of new motherhood is anything but expected. Overwhelmed, exhausted, and often confused, the refrain of new mothers is more often this: “Nobody told me it would be this way. I had no idea.”

Until now.

Based upon her own, at times dramatic, childbirth experience, By The Secret Ladder articulates with unflinching candour the fear, trauma, and unsurpassed joy that all women undergo, but few talk about, on their journey to motherhood—a journey Greenslade envisions as nothing less than a transforming, even heroic, quest.

By The Secret Ladder rediscovers motherhood for a new generation. Wise and funny, it will strike a powerful and comforting chord in mothers, new or experienced.

Born in St. Catharines, Ontario, Frances Greenslade has since lived in Winnipeg, Regina, Vancouver, Chilliwack and now Penticton. She has a BA in English from the University of Winnipeg and an MFA in Creative Writing from University of British Columbia. By the Secret Ladder and A Pilgrim in Ireland (Penguin) are her first two books, both memoir. Her novel, Shelter, was published in Canada by Random House in 2011, in the US by Free Press and the UK by Virago in 2012. It has been translated into Dutch, German and Italian. She has taught English and Creative writing at Okanagan College since 2005.

Frances Greenslade's profile page