In Noémi's tale, Mary, an ordinary poor working class woman finds herself at the centre of a controversy regarding whether or not she (ergo women in general) is able to birth creatures other than humans, in this particular case, rabbits. As news of this improbable situation spreads, Mary is physically, emotionally and mentally abused both by those wanting, for a variety of reasons, to prove that she has indeed birthed rabbits and by those determined but not completely convinced that humans birthing rabbits is an impossibility. The appalling behaviour of 'learned' men towards Mary and women in general, is deplorably shocking and the rage of injustice draws this reader to contemplate how far, or not, we have come 300 years later.
I'm not entirely sure that enough has changed since those times. Although in 2024 many women have a good degree of comparative autonomy over their lives, there is still too much of our health, bodies and personal authority that is both given and taken away especially in our so-called modern medicine arena. Take the over medicalization of labour and childbirth for example - the way it has oh so unsubtly become 'the norm' for a woman to lie on her back in a hospital during both phases of birth, be regularly interfered with by a rolling progression of practitioners, undergo frequent (often unnecessary) interventions, be 'assisted' in giving birth by pathology-obsessed doctors rather than natural-birth-focused midwives, be injected with numbing anaesthesia, obliged to remain still and hooked up to monitors rather than being able to move around freely as her body and her baby most often need to do in order to birth gently and well.
Published by the wonderful Galley Beggar Press, Mary And The Rabbit Dream is written in a series of short sentences that remind me of a long thread of modern text messages yet the frequent repetition of phrases and characters' thoughts seem to slow us down so we can more readily absorb the action and intention taking place. It is kind of the opposite of doom scrolling and I enjoyed this seemingly deliberate and effective way of writing which was easy to get through. A fascinating, enjoyable read.
