I hardly know how to encapsulate this piece of work. You can feel the heart of it beating within the sentences. The desperate deep love of the mother throbs throughout the daily slog and exhaustion of parenting. Coursing within are the little jeweled moments that make it all worthwhile. It is a symphony of thoughts and feelings, a whirlpool center of anguish and exhilaration, confusion and a touch of madness. It ebbs with longing and anticipated loss. You are the mother, you’ve known many like the mother, you may be her someday. Her thrumming thoughts are always always of him, unsure of how to make sense of the depths of her love. This is a book about everything that awakens within us when we become parents, about how we try to make sense of the enormous responsibility, the breathtaking reality of being the source for another living person. I held my breath so many times, caught hanging on a sentence, a thought formed so perfectly right , the illuminating brushstroke, this book a true work of living art

I was excited about this one but unfortunately had to dnf. Thank you to the NetGalley and the publisher gifting me this arc.

The first thing I will say is I LOVE the cover of this book! I follow a lot of UK based BookTubers and this book was getting a lot of buzz in the latter half of last year. I almost purchased a copy overseas, but I honestly resisted because I hate their cover. I figured I would be patient and wait for its release in the States, but when it was longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction, I knew I had to read it sooner because I review the longlisted titles on my channel. I was over the moon that I got approved for a copy of this from NetGalley and I can wait to purchase the cover I love when it is released.

As for the book, it is fantastic and was one the easiest 5 stars I have ever handed out! This book was so good and I cannot say enough good things about it. I am not a mother and I was shocked at how Claire Kilroy was able to affect me and make me feel like I was suffering along with the narrator. I felt a level of empathy that was palpable and I felt like I was experiencing every emotion that she was feeling. This book explored the good, the bad, and the ugly side of motherhood and Kilroy was brave enough to expose what (I am assuming) a good bit of moms try to hide due to shame and feeling like a failure as a mother. It's raw and honest works like this that change peoples minds and can cultivate empathy instead of continuing to enable unfair judgments toward moms that are struggling with mental health issues, or just simply do not have the help and support that is needed to raise children. I understand that this subject matter might me difficult for some mothers that had similar experiences, but I also think that a book like this could also provide them strength and validation in knowing that they are not alone.

Thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for providing me the digital proof copy of this book.

My full length review of this book can be found on YouTube via the link below.

The premise to this novel sounded excellent, but I found the writing to be a bit bland and the characters unrealistic.

I can see why so many love and were touched by this book. While the writing style took me a minute to get into, I found myself riveted. I fell so deep into that character in a way I hadn’t felt in a book in a long time. I felt myself at times aching for the character, and I sometimes while reading felt the longing for the weight of a baby in my arms. As a 28 year old with no children, it is astounding a book can do that. I love when a book is harsh and messy while also being so beautiful and poetic. The only thing keeping it from being a 5-star for me is that beginning took me a minute to get into.

I finished Soldier Sailor with tears streaming down my face, and I imagine this will be true for most that pick this up. I think the jacket copy for the "plot" here is exactly right. It says Claire Kilroy takes us deep into the early days of motherhood. Exploring the clash of fierce love for a new life with a seismic change in identity, she vividly realises the raw, tumultuous emotions of a new mother, as her marriage strains and she struggles with questions of love, autonomy and creativity. As she smiles at her baby, Sailor, while mentally composing her own suicide note, an old friend makes a welcome return, but can he really offer a lifeline to the woman she used to be?

This was raw and intense and relentless and tender and difficult and beautiful all at once. There are some very hard things here and things that might make you gasp and cringe and potentially judge. But keep going, it will be okay. The writing is poetic and propulsive enough that I likely didn't even need to tell you that. Like usual, when I love a book, I have less things to say about it other than...READ IT.

Soldier Sailor is a story about a new mother struggling through the demands of caring for her baby. Her husband is largely not present - working long hours and spending time golfing. When he is home, he's still absent.

I thought the way Kilroy chose to draw the husband character was interesting. It leads one to wonder what type of relationship they had before the baby was born. Was he happy about the pregnancy?

The scenes between the new mother and her husband are so fraught, they made me very tense. I was surprised by this because I certainly read my share of challenging books. The scenes between the main character and "Sailor", her baby, are so well done.

Soldier captures the first few years of her motherhood experiences, reflections, and predictions in a stream-of-consciousness style written to her son, Sailor. Kilroy’s exemplary writing conveys the depth of emotions and is truly sublime and utterly brilliant in the most breathtakingly visceral way. This is only the second book I’ve read on the 2024 Women’s Prize for Fiction longlist, but I venture to declare this one the winner.
Netgalley and the publisher provided this book for review consideration, but all opinions are my own.

"Well Sailor. Here we are once more, you and me in one another's arms."

It is hard to put into words how much I loved this book. It was gorgeous, heartbreaking, and raw. The writing alone is exquisite. It's also claustrophobic and difficult to read: you either want to rush through it, to get out of that headspace or take frequent pauses to recover (I personally chose a mixture of the two approaches). Soldier Sailor was the perfect accompaniment to my first year of motherhood and my unintentional project to read novels about motherhood.

Soldier Sailor is narrated by a mother, referred to as "Soldier," to her son that she refers to as "Sailor". She recounts different moments in the first years of his life, the struggles she went through and the moments of pure joy and love she felt (and still feels) for her son. Soldier starts out completely lost: she's lost her former identity to that of being a "mother" and is losing her relationship with her husband in the process. She's dealing with some intense Postpartum Depression. Despite being married and with a child, she feels so desperately isolated. But then Sailor grows, they both learn, and the return of an old friend in her life brings her out of the fog of early childhood.

The style of writing, part-epistolary and part-stream of consciousness, lends an honesty to this book. It's hard not to compare it with My Work by Olga Ravn and countless other books on motherhood. What I found unique about Kilroy's book is the way that she's able to talk about events in the moment but also from a distance. That is, we know she's talking to Sailor from the future compared to the book's events, but she so clearly remembers the feeling of what she experienced back then. It makes it all the more powerful for the way these feelings linger.

I would caution anyone with young children to take a moment to consider whether you can handle this book. On the one hand, it was incredibly difficult to read, especially having a little boy myself. On the other, it was encouraging, reminding me that there were things I was not experiencing alone and that anything difficult does eventually get better. This is a beautiful book and I'm glad that the Women's Prize and a US pub date are finally getting this book to a wider audience.

This book is essentially a mother’s love letter to her young son. She leaves nothing out, talking in particular about the difficulties and frustrations that come with being a stay-at-home mother. She explores the differences in expectations between mothers and fathers, the intensity of the bond between mother and child, and the agony of leaving behind one’s pre-parent self. She does all of this through gorgeous, poetic, concise prose that cuts right to the bone.

I am not a mother so I cannot fully relate to the narrator’s struggles, but in other ways I can: through watching my sister parent her three children, through thinking about my own mother’s experiences, through simply existing as a woman in the world. This is such a lovely and realistic picture of what motherhood so often looks and feels like. Four stars.

3.5

I didn't love it quite as much as others but I do completely understand the hype. "Soldier Sailor" is filled of little truths about life, beautiful words and tender moments. Above all this is the story of motherhood but it is also the story of being a woman, a wife and human on this earth. It is sad but in an uplifting and lovely way... quieter than expected within the tumultuous life of being a newborn's mother. The reading feels real: imperfect, authentic and raw.

So far this is absolutely the one I see winning the Women's Prize for Fiction '24 -it exudes the themes and quality of the award. I would not be surprised to see it topping the rest of the literary awards this year.

Women's Prize for Fiction 2024 Longlist. Thank you to Scribner (Simon & Schusters) for the gifted copy U.S. Pub date: Jun 04, 2024.

Read about 100 pages and decided to DNF. I struggle with Irish literature in general, but love the prose of Sally Rooney, so wanted to give this a shot. Would definitely say this is for an older audience, as I am 24, it was not feeling very home hitting or emotional to me.

Irish author Kilroy offers a beautifully written, strongly voiced narrative of the trying early years of new motherhood.

Claire Kilroy has written a raw real intimate look at being a new mother ..I can remember feeling the exact same emotions love for my child sadness for my lost self absolutely lost.This was a brilliant read that woman will relate to as they are caught up in this novel.#netgalley #scribner

I love reading stories about motherhood. I've been a mom for over sixteen years, so Kilroy's book about the early days of parenting was enjoyable. Some of the best reading I have come across. I liked her approach to developing all aspects of mothering. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Five stars.