EPISODE · Jul 8, 2026 · 59 MIN
AUTHOR CHAT: Libby Ward's Memoir "Honest Motherhood"
from Babes in Bookland: Your Favorite Women's Bookclub Podcast
What happens when the "honest mom" finally tells you the parts she's never posted?This week I'm talking with Libby Ward about her memoir, Honest Motherhood. Libby built an audience of over 2 million by naming the mental load, the mother wound, and the impossible pressure to be everything. But the book goes further than any caption ever could: her rural church upbringing and the deconstruction that followed, the chaos of her own childhood and the long, complicated work of rebuilding a relationship on her own terms with her mother, and the exact moment in a minivan when she realized she'd become someone she never wanted to be.We talk about trusting her own voice after a lifetime of trusting everyone else's, why she turned down a book deal with a major agent because it wasn't the book she wanted to write, and why writing this one nearly broke her even though the book tour feels like a vacation by comparison. We also get into the humor running through the whole thing, because Libby is proof that funny people usually have a little trauma to thank for it.This is a conversation about permission. Permission to stop performing wellness, to hold boundaries and actually keep holding them, and to feel proud of your own work without waiting for someone else to say it's okay. If the conversation resonates, subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with any mom ready to break out of survival mode. Support the show:On Patreon.Buy us a bookBuy cute merchBuy Honest MotherhoodThis episode is produced, recorded, and its content edited by me. Xx, AlexConnect with us and suggest a great memoir!Follow us on instagram! @babesinbooklandpod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
What this episode covers
What happens when the "honest mom" finally tells you the parts she's never posted?This week I'm talking with Libby Ward about her memoir, Honest Motherhood. Libby built an audience of over 2 million by naming the mental load, the mother wound, and the impossible pressure to be everything. But the book goes further than any caption ever could: her rural church upbringing and the deconstruction that followed, the chaos of her own childhood and the long, complicated work of rebuilding a relationship on her own terms with her mother, and the exact moment in a minivan when she realized she'd become someone she never wanted to be.We talk about trusting her own voice after a lifetime of trusting everyone else's, why she turned down a book deal with a major agent because it wasn't the book she wanted to write, and why writing this one nearly broke her even though the book tour feels like a vacation by comparison. We also get into the humor running through the whole thing, because Libby is proof that funny people usually have a little trauma to thank for it.This is a conversation about permission. Permission to stop performing wellness, to hold boundaries and actually keep holding them, and to feel proud of your own work without waiting for someone else to say it's okay. If the conversation resonates, subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with any mom ready to break out of survival mode. Support the show:On Patreon.Buy us a bookBuy cute merchBuy Honest MotherhoodThis episode is produced, recorded, and its content edited by me. Xx, AlexConnect with us and suggest a great memoir!Follow us on instagram! @babesinbooklandpod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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AUTHOR CHAT: Libby Ward's Memoir "Honest Motherhood"
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