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Books

Ever since I penned my first novel – a masterpiece handwritten on looseleaf paper when I was ten – I have been a writer.

My books are about how women navigate times of life transition and rites of passage; they are part non-fiction, part memoir, part social commentary, and always all heart.

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Mothershift: Reclaiming Motherhood as a Rite of Passage

Mothershift is a supportive guide for the transition into motherhood, known as matrescence, which takes 2-3 years to traverse, not 6 weeks or 3 months like we've been led to believe. 

This transition isn't just about learning how to change diapers or make really strong coffee:  it's a change to who you are.  In times past and places far away, this rite of passage was guided by ritual, ceremony and community support, but our modern, Western understanding of matrescence remains largely uncharted territory.  Today’s mothers are encouraged to “bounce back” and told not to “lose themselves in motherhood," and everything from social policy to social media has made this transformative time more challenging now than it has ever been.

Winner of the 2025 Nautilus Book Awards Gold Medal, shortlisted for the 2026 Nova Scotia Book Awards and heralded as "as essential read for all new mothers," Mothershift offers mothers a map to help them navigate matrescence as well as resources to help them thrive during this transformative time.

Mother Becoming: Reflections and Scholarship on Matrescence

Mother Becoming explores the emerging concept of matrescence, the word used to describe the transition to motherhood.

Cultivating a better understanding of matrescence is imperative for the wellbeing of mothers. There is often little acknowledgement of this tremendously life-changing experience, and the vast majority of support proffered during this tender time is directed toward the wellbeing of the baby. But becoming a mother is rife with upheaval and disorientation, and mothers must renegotiate their identities, relationships and values while simultaneously contending with the immense learning curve of motherwork.

Through scholarship and storytelling alike, Mother Becoming unearths the multidimensional, kaleidoscopic nature of matrescence while also highlighting research, policy and practice recommendations to better support mothers.

Book cover image of Mother Becoming: Reflections and Scholarship on Matrescence
Cover image for Jessie Harrold's book Project Body Love

Project Body Love: My quest to love my body and the surprising truth I found instead

Project Body Love is the story of my quest to find acceptance, respect, and maybe even love for my body after spending a lifetime counting calories and drops of sweat.

What followed was a two-year series of experiments that had me mining the depths of my past, dismantling the effects of Diet Culture on my self-worth, taking up bellydancing, posing for nude photographs, and other daring feats of self-exploration.

Far from being a shiny tale of self-actualization, Project Body Love explores the complexity of being a fat person in a thin-obsessed world, and concludes with an entirely new perspective on the elusive body love – one that was surprising, even to me.

© 2024 Jessie Harrold | Privacy Policy | Photography by DeeDee Morris. Site by ELQ Creative