Conceiving Histories (inbunden, eng)

A fascinating and beautifully illustrated account of trying to conceive in both the past and the present.

Runner Up, 2026 V&A Illustration Awards, Adult Factual Category

Inspired by the author's own experiences, Conceiving Histories brings together history, personal memoir, and illustration to investigate the culturally hidden experience of trying to conceiveIn elegant, engaging prose, Isabel Davis explores the combination of myth, fantasy, science, and pseudo-science that the (un)reproductive body encounters in pursuit of a viable pregnancy. The book chronicles the trying-to-conceive lifecycle arc from sex education at school, through the desire to be a parent, into the specifics of trying and struggling to conceive.

It also looks back at conception throughout history to open a new vista on what we live with today.

A central argument of Davis's is that historical people lived with the unknown just like we do but were more explicitly able to acknowledge it. In an age of assistive reproductive technologies, the act of embracing uncertainty seems difficultAlthough the topic of not conceiving is potentially painful, this is not a grim book; more than grief, it is motivated by curiosity, wonder, compassion, and even humor. With 108 full-color illustrations by Anna Burel, Conceiving Histories is also a beautiful material object, an intentionally playful antidote and supplement to online search engines—the resort of so many embroiled in fertility challenges.

Format	Inbunden
Omfång	360 sidor
Språk	Engelska
Förlag	MIT Press Ltd
Utgivningsdatum	2025-03-04
ISBN	9780262049481