IMPERFECT BODIES

Author: Ali Isaac

Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)

Published on 10 March 2026 by Heloise Press in the United Kingdom.

Paperback | 252 pages
197 x 131 x 21 | 280g

When Ali learns that she is expecting a child with CFC syndrome, a rare genetic condition that affects the heart, face, skin, and development, her world is shaken up. Doctors tell her that her baby will not even survive pregnancy but, against all odds, Carys is born. In this powerful literary memoir, Ali shares her journey as the mother of Carys, reflecting on motherhood, identity, the female body, and the able and dis-abled body, while exploring social and political definitions of normality. This memoir also interrogates how pregnancy, aging, and disability are all appropriated by public discourses without addressing individual needs. Isaac brings forth a myriad of non-normative bodies in a beautiful narrative that feels powerful and liberating.

For readers of Claire Kilroy, Anne Enright, Deborah Levy.

Comparable titles: Lifeblood by Nina Holland nd