Massimo Recalcati is a psychoanalyst and author who teaches at the universities of Pavia and Verona.

‘This book from one of Italy’s most popular public intellectuals turns our conventional understanding of motherly love on its head, encouraging a complete rethink of what motherhood means today. Written with Recalcati’s typical flair and sagacity, it will be of interest to a very wide readership.’Dany Nobus, Brunel University, London‘In this poetic and thought-provoking book, Massimo Recalcati explores the many images of the mother to be found in both psychoanalysis and popular culture, urging a questioning of the prejudices and clichés that are so often taken for granted. Without downplaying the complexity and ambivalences of the mother–child relation, he emphasises the positive, life-giving transmission of the mother, and shows us with clarity and elegance the many levels at which this operates.’Darian Leader, Psychoanalyst, Centre for Freudian Analysis and Research

• Introduction Notes1 The Mother’s DesireThe HandsThe WaitThe FaceLalangueThe BreastAbsenceDesireParanoiaThe NameCareTranscendenceNotes2 The Mother’s ShadowThe Two Mothers and Solomon’s RulingWanting to Have a ChildMaternal AnxietyThe Child as ObjectThe Mother’s Refusal‘Primary Perversion’The Mother’s EnjoymentAnge DurocThe Mother-as-CrocodileThe Narcissistic MotherA Fugitive MotherThe Medea ComplexMommyNotes3 The Mother’s InheritanceMaternal PowerThe Maternal SentenceMaternal InheritanceThe Dead MotherMother and DaughterFailure of InheritanceRavageViolence and ResignationThe Mother’s SolitudeA Successful InheritanceNotesEpilogue

Massimo Recalcati is a psychoanalyst and author who teaches at the universities of Pavia and Verona.

‘This book from one of Italy’s most popular public intellectuals turns our conventional understanding of motherly love on its head, encouraging a complete rethink of what motherhood means today. Written with Recalcati’s typical flair and sagacity, it will be of interest to a very wide readership.’Dany Nobus, Brunel University, London‘In this poetic and thought-provoking book, Massimo Recalcati explores the many images of the mother to be found in both psychoanalysis and popular culture, urging a questioning of the prejudices and clichés that are so often taken for granted. Without downplaying the complexity and ambivalences of the mother–child relation, he emphasises the positive, life-giving transmission of the mother, and shows us with clarity and elegance the many levels at which this operates.’Darian Leader, Psychoanalyst, Centre for Freudian Analysis and Research

• Introduction Notes1 The Mother’s DesireThe HandsThe WaitThe FaceLalangueThe BreastAbsenceDesireParanoiaThe NameCareTranscendenceNotes2 The Mother’s ShadowThe Two Mothers and Solomon’s RulingWanting to Have a ChildMaternal AnxietyThe Child as ObjectThe Mother’s Refusal‘Primary Perversion’The Mother’s EnjoymentAnge DurocThe Mother-as-CrocodileThe Narcissistic MotherA Fugitive MotherThe Medea ComplexMommyNotes3 The Mother’s InheritanceMaternal PowerThe Maternal SentenceMaternal InheritanceThe Dead MotherMother and DaughterFailure of InheritanceRavageViolence and ResignationThe Mother’s SolitudeA Successful InheritanceNotesEpilogue

Massimo Recalcati is a psychoanalyst and author who teaches at the universities of Pavia and Verona.

‘This book from one of Italy’s most popular public intellectuals turns our conventional understanding of motherly love on its head, encouraging a complete rethink of what motherhood means today. Written with Recalcati’s typical flair and sagacity, it will be of interest to a very wide readership.’Dany Nobus, Brunel University, London‘In this poetic and thought-provoking book, Massimo Recalcati explores the many images of the mother to be found in both psychoanalysis and popular culture, urging a questioning of the prejudices and clichés that are so often taken for granted. Without downplaying the complexity and ambivalences of the mother–child relation, he emphasises the positive, life-giving transmission of the mother, and shows us with clarity and elegance the many levels at which this operates.’Darian Leader, Psychoanalyst, Centre for Freudian Analysis and Research

• Introduction Notes1 The Mother’s DesireThe HandsThe WaitThe FaceLalangueThe BreastAbsenceDesireParanoiaThe NameCareTranscendenceNotes2 The Mother’s ShadowThe Two Mothers and Solomon’s RulingWanting to Have a ChildMaternal AnxietyThe Child as ObjectThe Mother’s Refusal‘Primary Perversion’The Mother’s EnjoymentAnge DurocThe Mother-as-CrocodileThe Narcissistic MotherA Fugitive MotherThe Medea ComplexMommyNotes3 The Mother’s InheritanceMaternal PowerThe Maternal SentenceMaternal InheritanceThe Dead MotherMother and DaughterFailure of InheritanceRavageViolence and ResignationThe Mother’s SolitudeA Successful InheritanceNotesEpilogue