Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. The targeted ads that I get from

our capitalist tech overlords usually involve, you know, those boots I looked up the other day,

local concerts I might be interested in, food and booze. My wife, on the other hand,

just gets baby stuff, baby stuff, and more baby stuff.

Are you thinking about having a baby? Here's what you'll need when you have a baby. Do you want to

buy this product about baby, baby, baby? Is it because we looked up, do you have to bring a gift

to a baptism the other day? Or is the cult of motherhood really that strong? That's the jumping off question

of the new horror book, Just Like Mother, by Anne Heltzel. And she tells NPR's Aisha Roscoe about

the frightening way society sets women up to be mothers, without even asking if that's something

they want to be in the first place.

In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.

Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show, Sources and Methods.

NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people helping you understand why distant events

matter here at home. Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your

podcasts. The pressure to have kids can be intense, especially for women. But what happens if

motherhood literally becomes a cult? That's the premise behind a frightening new

book, just like mother by author Anne Heltzel. In the book, Cousins Mave and Andrea

escape from the mother collective as children. When they meet again, their lives intertwine

in ways that quickly become, well, gory.

Anne Heltzel joins us now. Welcome.

Hi, Aisha.

Thank you so much for having me.

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