Exclusive extract: Jess Urlichs on the Beautiful Contradictions of Motherhood
Few writers have captured the emotional texture of modern motherhood quite like Jessica Urlichs.
The Sunday Times bestselling author of Beautiful Chaos has built a global following — across Instagram, Substack and beyond — by articulating the moments many mothers struggle to name: the tenderness, the overwhelm, the identity shift, the quiet grief for former selves, the fierce and ordinary love.
Just in time for Mother’s Day, she returns with They Bloom Because of You: On the Infinite Love, Growth and Magic of Motherhood , a new collection that reflects on how motherhood evolves as our children do.
Her writing does not romanticise or reduce; instead, it holds space for contradiction. The joy and the exhaustion. The pride and the longing. The noise and the silence.
Urlichs has become, for many, the voice that says the unsayable gently — reassuring mothers that both the wonder and the weight can coexist. In this new collection, she turns her attention to the lifelong arc of mothering, from newborn nights to watching children grow away from us.
Below, we share an exclusive extract from the book, which is published on 5th March 2026.
There Is a Mother Somewhere
There is a mother somewhere,
whose grown child lives on the other side of the world,
she holds them in her heart because of the distance
between their arms.
There is a mother somewhere,
whose baby won’t stop crying,
they want to be held, fed to sleep, they need her so much
and all she wants is a moment alone.
There is a mother somewhere,
whose child may never say the word ‘mama’,
she’s faced unimaginable challenges,
and dreams of that sound often.
There is a mother somewhere,
who has heard the word ‘mummy’ on repeat,
she’s touched out, it’s all so loud,
and she’s desperate for a moment of silence.
There is a mother somewhere, awake,
tiptoeing out the door of the nursery, her tears not long dried,
she dreams of sleep, she adores her baby
but still thinks back to those carefree days sometimes.
There is a mother somewhere, awake,
who hears tiptoeing down the hallway
because her teenager got in late,
she loves watching them grow,
but she thinks back to the days they were little
and would climb into her bed for cuddles instead.
There is a mother somewhere,
her house is full of noise and mess, lived in and loved.
There is a mother somewhere,
her house is clean and silent, and memories hang on the walls.
There is a mother somewhere,
telling her grandchildren about what their parents were like
when they were little.
There is a mother somewhere,
asking her own mother, what was it like?
It’s heartachingly beautiful, and sometimes,
a beautiful heartache.
If she tells you this is incredible, the best thing
she’s ever done, believe her.
If she tells you this is hard, the hardest thing
she’s ever done, believe her.
They Bloom Because of You: On the Infinite Love, Growth and Magic of Motherhood by Jessica Urlichs. Buy your copy here.