Friends Laura and Alina have never wanted children - while Laura gets sterilised and finds herself unexpectedly drawn into her neighbour’s life, Alina decides to try for a baby after all, but it is not smooth sailing.

This is a book about motherhood, but not in the traditional sense, and I appreciated that none of the various examples of family - including single mothers, children with medical or learning difficulties, a nanny that can’t have children of her own, even the pigeons - fit the patriarchal stereotypical image of motherhood or family. It highlights that community and support take so many forms, especially (necessarily) in modern society and motherhood rarely turns out exactly as planned.

I loved Laura as a narrator, she’s matter-of-fact and comfortable in her conviction that she doesn’t want to bear a child, but that does not mean she hates children. Her life is not lacking, she does not regret her choice and she still steps up to support her friend or neighbour - it’s a far more realistic representation of a consciously child-free woman than is usual in literature, and I’m here for it.

There are many brief, astute observations of life in relation to motherhood squirrelled into the text - societal expectations, the many decisions, the critical importance of support, medical attitudes, the stress parenthood places on a couple, the crippling feeling of having no idea what you’re doing - and, set in Mexico, the threat of femicide is an ever-present undertone.

It sounds heavy, but the writing is easy to read and the short chapters swept me along - tough things happen (some of which I found deeply affecting), but this is not a dark book and no judgement is passed on any of the women’s choices. My only quibble is the ending, which came out of nowhere and felt at odds with the rest of the book.

A quietly excellent, very readable exploration of non-traditional motherhood, friendship and community and the complex emotions around wanting (or not) children.