Look How Happy I’m Making You

In her literary debut, Look How Happy I’m Making You, Polly Rosenwaike gives readers twelve sincerely engaging stories exploring motherhood in all its varieties. We read of women moving on from miscarriage, enduring infertility, handling unplanned pregnancies, trying to parse relationship changes, moving through postpartum depression, finding a path to becoming a mother, surviving infant death, and simply undergoing an ordinary pregnancy.

What is perhaps most delightful about these stories is how centered on the female protagonist each one is. These aren’t stories about women dealing with men (although this is present there), nor are they stories about women yearning for children (but, again, this is present). What these stories are primarily concerned with, is how the women themselves visualize, vocalize, and empathize about their bodies.

Rosenwaike’s prose is sophisticated but never overly literary. Her tone and observations allow these characters to feel intensely real and inviolate. She deftly navigates emotionally difficult terrain while getting at the heart of both her characters’ and readers’ hopes and anxieties. Look How Happy I’m Making You is a satisfying short story collection which will likely leave readers uneasy and appeased.