A strange thing happens when a woman has a child: she immediately becomes part of “the club.” And it doesn’t matter if the woman is straight, gay, partnered, or alone, or if the child arrived through accidental pregnancy, fervent attempts at insemination by natural or medical means, or after seemingly endless amounts of adoption-enabling paperwork. Being part of the club provides insights into the lives of other women – complete strangers who smile knowingly as they pass one another, strollers laden with the unbearably lovable beings who have taken over their lives.

This club’s inner workings are revealed in Between Interruptions. The 30 women who share their experiences are predominantly writers, and therefore quite capable of crafting poignant, careful examinations of their lives. The few non-writers in the group – singer/songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk and actress Carrie-Anne Moss (of The Matrix fame) among them – manage to convey the same intensity, albeit with slightly less polish.

Standouts include journalist Marina Jiménez’s account of attempting to balance life in the trenches as a war correspondent with motherhood, a battle that ultimately tips in favour of staying closer to home with her son; former Fashion magazine editor Leanne Delap’s achingly honest confession of how she let the glamour of a high-profile job get the better of her marriage and parenting; and Denise Ryan’s intensely raw story of coping with post-partum depression – both hers and her mother’s.

Written by mothers for mothers, this book is full of essays that will have readers laughing out loud, crying in sympathy, and nodding their heads in recognition – but only if they are mothers themselves. Those outside of the club just won’t understand.