From Tess of the D’urbervilles to Melvin Burgess’s Junk, teen pregnancy has been dealt with in all kinds of fictional ways over the years. Lisa Drakeford, author of The Baby, picks some of her favourites
Teenage pregnancies have been used as story matter for years and years. The Mary and Joseph story is one such example. As the mother of two teenagers it’s one of my worst nightmares. I had my own kids in my cosy 30s - I think I was labelled a geriatric mother. I can’t imagine how I’d have coped in my optimistic and strong 20s, let alone the chaotic, dramatic often painful teenage years. My book The Baby isn’t about the pregnancy. My character, Nicola has a readymade baby. She’s one of a handful of cases who didn’t know she was pregnant until the latter stages of labour. What she thought was Christmas weight and stomach cramps ended up a baby girl, born in February at a house party on her best mate’s bathroom floor. The story is more about the impact this baby has on Nicola and the four friends who witness the birth. The impact on their friendship is messy; it’s dramatic; it’s not straightforward, yet it is ultimately lovely. Quite frankly though, find me a teenage friendship which isn’t.
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