Increase

Increase is Lia Purpuras chronicle of her pregnancy, the birth of her son, Joseph, and the first year of his life. She recounts her journey with the heightened awareness of a mother-to-be and through the eyes of a poet, from the moment she confirms her pregnancy as A blue X slowly crosses itself, first one arm, then the other in the small white window of the test, through the X of his crossed feet in sleep as her childs world begins. Purpuras sensibility transcends the facts of personal experience to enfold the dramatically changing shape of a larger, complex world. These closely knit essays portray the rhythms of a new mothers life as it is challenged and transformed in nearly every aspect, from the emotions of wildness, loss, need, and desire to the outward progressand interruptionof her work and activities. Increase offers us motherhood at an extraordinary pitch, recording, absorbing, and revisiting experiences from a multitude of angles. Purpura presents her story of discovery with unequalled eloquence, grace, and power.