Join us for a discussion of The Motherload by Sarah Hoover

What happens when What to Expect When You're Expecting turns out to be nothing like what you actually experience?

In The Motherload, Sarah Hoover offers a fearless, funny, and deeply honest account of early motherhood, one that challenges the myth of instant maternal bliss. Instead of immediate joy, she found herself navigating postpartum depression, anxiety, rage, brain fog, and the painful loss of identity, intimacy, and career. As she writes with her signature wit, her newborn was "objectively a tiny worm, even worse, a worm with my nose."

With remarkable candor and humor, Hoover explores the gap between the stories women are told about motherhood and the reality many experience but few feel free to discuss. Despite a loving partner, professional success, and access to support, she found herself in a profound struggle that ultimately led to a diagnosis of severe postpartum depression.

At its heart, The Motherload is a powerful memoir about letting go of impossible expectations, embracing imperfection, and finding compassion for yourself when life unfolds differently than planned. It's a moving, thought-provoking, and ultimately hopeful conversation starter about motherhood, identity, mental health, and the courage to tell the truth.

Whether you're a parent, hope to become one, or simply enjoy compelling memoirs about resilience and self-discovery, we hope you'll join us for an engaging discussion of this unforgettable book.

Bios:

Sarah Hoover

After earning degrees from NYU and Columbia, Sarah Hoover built a career in the art world before turning full time to writing. Her essays on motherhood, identity, and cultural expectations have appeared in Vogue, The Wall Street Journal, Psychology Today, The Strategist, Elle, and Harper’s Bazaar amongst many others. In early 2025, she released her critically acclaimed, unflinching memoir The Motherload: Episodes from the Brink of Motherhood,  an instant national bestseller, January 2025 Belletrist Book Club pick, and Times (UK) Book of the Week. The deeply personal and darkly funny critique of modern motherhood, which is currently in development at 20th Century Fox as an ongoing television series, has been praised by Oprah Daily as “a long overdue reality check” and was featured on the Today Show, The View, Morning Joe and more. Hoover lives in Manhattan with her husband and two kids.

Misty C. Richards, MD, MS

Dr. Misty Richards, Associate Professor,  is a child, adult, and reproductive psychiatrist at UCLA who holds a joint appointment in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She serves as the Program Director for the UCLA Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship and is highly involved in medical student education as the Co-Chair of the UCLA DGSOM Medical Education Committee. Clinically, Dr. Richards serves as the Director of Infant Mental Health of the UCLA Maternal Mental Health Intensive Outpatient Program and is also the Co-Founder and Medical Director of Perinatal Psychiatry for the Maternal Outpatient Mental health Services (MOMS) Clinic in the Department of OB-GYN. She is a passionate clinician-educator with expertise in treating perinatal mood disorders, psychosis, and parent-infant attachment disorders, while also educating the next generation about reproductive psychiatry and early childhood mental health.