'Everywhere in the wilderness I hear the cries of other mothers. I call back to them, asking for help, but sometimes they can’t hear me through their own cries’

A forty-day journey of trial and transformation has meaning in many cultures, including in Savaş’s own. In this candid, tender essay, she charts a path through an unknown landscape – the first forty days of motherhood – in search of herself and the words for what has happened to her, following the birth of her baby.

'As a personal chronicle, it's arresting and deep, and makes for a rewarding entry into the growing pantheon of postpartum literature.' Publishers Weekly

'Savaş documents the 'messiness and entanglement' of the 40 days after birth, a period so often completely invisible to the outside world.'The New Republic, Cora Currier, Beyond the Motherhood Memoir

'In her debut work of nonfiction, The Wilderness, the Paris-based Turkish novelist Ayşegül Savaş examines the transformation encountered when giving birth and becoming a mother, looking to the mythic significance of the first forty days . . . Savaş distills and examines this limit-experience in a potent book that just barely surpasses 100 pages.'Cultured Magazine, John Vincler

ISBN-13: 9781836750192

Weight: 505 grams

Format: Paperback

Country of Origin (language): Turkey

Language: English

Pub Date: 06/08/2026

Page Extent: 112 Pages