Bonkers

Before she became a mother, Olivia Siegl pictured herself as calm, confident and fully in control, gliding through new parenthood in white linen with a placid baby on her hip. Reality turned out very differently.

Bonkers is part memoir and part guide. Siegl tells the story of raising two babies under two while going through two harrowing episodes of postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis. She writes with humour and frankness, and she says those were the most harrowing times of her life.

She leaves no part of motherhood off limits, because she wants women to be able to talk about all of it without fear of judgement. Her story shows that a mental health illness is not the end of the story, and it offers hope to anyone struggling in a dark period. It is written for mothers who feel lost, who feel pressure to be perfect, or who wonder whether they are good enough.