Overview

One of Indigo's Most Anticipated Books of 2026. The bestselling author of Baseball Life Advice, Stacey May Fowles returns with the honesty, humour, and heart that readers love in a memoir exploring infertility, motherhood, mental health, and the work demanded of women. After years of struggling with the pain of infertility, Stacey May Fowles had her beautiful daughter. But while motherhood brought with it many joys, it also meant losing so much of what had gotten her through those years of wanting. With her characteristic introspection, Stacey May explores what it means to create life with a traumatized body, the sometimes uncomfortable fit of wearing both motherhood and ambition, and the ways in which our ideas of how a mother moves through the world limit and hurt us—and often sever our connections to one another.   The follow up to Baseball Life Advice, a Globe and Mail and National Post best book, The Lost Season is a raw, powerful exploration of undoing and becoming.

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9780771030116

Table of Contents

Reviews

""In The Lost Season, formidable author Stacey May Fowles births a better version of herself after birthing another human. This triumph of a memoir had my undivided attention from page one as she recounted her arduous journey to the junction of motherhood, mental health struggles and toxic work culture. From weaving together body memories of harm with the invasiveness of labour and delivery, to coupling her child's first tentative steps with the act of reclaiming the writer within, Fowles had me enthralled to the very last word."" —Catherine Hernandez, writer and screenwriter of Scarborough the book and film “The Lost Season is a poignant and important book by a writer at the height of her powers. Stacey May Fowles turns an unflinching gaze at the ways in which new motherhood impacts every aspect of her being, and, in doing so, creates something meaningful and beautiful.” —Alison Pick, author of Far to Go ""The Lost Season is a jewel of a book. Stacey May Fowles beautifully excavates her own life to write about the spectrum of motherhood and its accompanying deep pains and exhilarating joys that can emerge in the most innocuous of places and situations. The Lost Season is honest, disarming, and precise, and gives us all permission to be exactly who we are: anxious, hopeful, and perfectly broken."" —Jen Sookfong Lee, author of Superfan “A fierce, honest, and urgent memoir about a woman's journey from infertility to motherhood, with its arising breadth of contradictory emotions and challenges. If you’re looking for a shiny, glossy fairy-tale, this isn’t it. The Lost Season is unflinching in its takedown of every judgement, reductive assumption, and oppressive role ascribed to women and mothers by the system while also acknowledging how easy it is to internalize them. Fowles’ memoir is incredibly personal, delving without judgement into grief, trauma, anxiety, expectations, desire, but also hope, love, and small victories. The Lost Season is the book I wish I read before becoming a mother.” —Sofia Mostaghimi, author of Desperada “The Lost Season is a compelling memoir on Fowles’ arduous path of healing and recovery from the sometimes-crippling effects of anxiety, PTSD, infertility and complications after a long wished-for pregnancy. Motherhood turns out to be no pastel-toned panacea. She is vulnerable and relatable in her honesty and evocatively describes the contradiction of embracing and resenting motherhood, and the changes and sacrifices it demands. Fowles bravely gives permission to women who, however much they long to be mothers, struggle with losing parts of themselves in the process. She discovers the potent if counter-intuitive tonic of loosening her grip on a professional life she never wholly believed in.” —Pauline Dakin, author of Run, Hide, Repeat

""In The Lost Season, formidable author Stacey May Fowles births a better version of herself after birthing another human. This triumph of a memoir had my undivided attention from page one as she recounted her arduous journey to the junction of motherhood, mental health struggles and toxic work culture. From weaving together body memories of harm with the invasiveness of labour and delivery, to coupling her child's first tentative steps with the act of reclaiming the writer within, Fowles had me enthralled to the very last word."" —Catherine Hernandez, writer and screenwriter of Scarborough the book and film

""In The Lost Season, formidable author Stacey May Fowles births a better version of herself after birthing another human. This triumph of a memoir had my undivided attention from page one as she recounted her arduous journey to the junction of motherhood, mental health struggles and toxic work culture. From weaving together body memories of harm with the invasiveness of labour and delivery, to coupling her child's first tentative steps with the act of reclaiming the writer within, Fowles had me enthralled to the very last word."" —Catherine Hernandez, writer and screenwriter of Scarborough the book and film “The Lost Season is a poignant and important book by a writer at the height of her powers. Stacey May Fowles turns an unflinching gaze at the ways in which new motherhood impacts every aspect of her being, and, in doing so, creates something meaningful and beautiful.” —Alison Pick, author of Far to Go ""The Lost Season is a jewel of a book. Stacey May Fowles beautifully excavates her own life to write about the spectrum of motherhood and its accompanying deep pains and exhilarating joys that can emerge in the most innocuous of places and situations. The Lost Season is honest, disarming, and precise, and gives us all permission to be exactly who we are: anxious, hopeful, and perfectly broken."" —Jen Sookfong Lee, author of Superfan “A fierce, honest, and urgent memoir about a woman's journey from infertility to motherhood, with its arising breadth of contradictory emotions and challenges. If you’re looking for a shiny, glossy fairy-tale, this isn’t it. The Lost Season is unflinching in its takedown of every judgement, reductive assumption, and oppressive role ascribed to women and mothers by the system while also acknowledging how easy it is to internalize them. Fowles’ memoir is incredibly personal, delving without judgement into grief, trauma, anxiety, expectations, desire, but also hope, love, and small victories. The Lost Season is the book I wish I read before becoming a mother.” —Sofia Mostaghimi, author of Desperada “The Lost Season is a compelling memoir on Fowles’ arduous path of healing and recovery from the sometimes-crippling effects of anxiety, PTSD, infertility and complications after a long wished-for pregnancy. Motherhood turns out to be no pastel-toned panacea. She is vulnerable and relatable in her honesty and evocatively describes the contradiction of embracing and resenting motherhood, and the changes and sacrifices it demands. Fowles bravely gives permission to women who, however much they long to be mothers, struggle with losing parts of themselves in the process. She discovers the potent if counter-intuitive tonic of loosening her grip on a professional life she never wholly believed in.” —Pauline Dakin, author of Run, Hide, Repeat ""[A]n invitation to an ongoing conversation—rich, thoughtful, generous, questioning, kind. There were many times, as I was reading this wonderful book, that I wanted to reply with a heartfelt, ""Yes! And!"" For folks at any stage of being mothers / not-mothers, this book will provide sustenance, nourishment, healing. It's also beautifully written and crafted."" —Carrie Snyder, author of Francie's Got a Gun

""Brutally honest and eloquently crafted."" —Publishers Weekly ""In The Lost Season, formidable author Stacey May Fowles births a better version of herself after birthing another human. This triumph of a memoir had my undivided attention from page one as she recounted her arduous journey to the junction of motherhood, mental health struggles and toxic work culture. From weaving together body memories of harm with the invasiveness of labour and delivery, to coupling her child's first tentative steps with the act of reclaiming the writer within, Fowles had me enthralled to the very last word."" —Catherine Hernandez, writer and screenwriter of Scarborough the book and film “The Lost Season is a poignant and important book by a writer at the height of her powers. Stacey May Fowles turns an unflinching gaze at the ways in which new motherhood impacts every aspect of her being, and, in doing so, creates something meaningful and beautiful.” —Alison Pick, author of Far to Go ""The Lost Season is a jewel of a book. Stacey May Fowles beautifully excavates her own life to write about the spectrum of motherhood and its accompanying deep pains and exhilarating joys that can emerge in the most innocuous of places and situations. The Lost Season is honest, disarming, and precise, and gives us all permission to be exactly who we are: anxious, hopeful, and perfectly broken."" —Jen Sookfong Lee, author of Superfan “A fierce, honest, and urgent memoir about a woman's journey from infertility to motherhood, with its arising breadth of contradictory emotions and challenges. If you’re looking for a shiny, glossy fairy-tale, this isn’t it. The Lost Season is unflinching in its takedown of every judgement, reductive assumption, and oppressive role ascribed to women and mothers by the system while also acknowledging how easy it is to internalize them. Fowles’ memoir is incredibly personal, delving without judgement into grief, trauma, anxiety, expectations, desire, but also hope, love, and small victories. The Lost Season is the book I wish I read before becoming a mother.” —Sofia Mostaghimi, author of Desperada “The Lost Season is a compelling memoir on Fowles’ arduous path of healing and recovery from the sometimes-crippling effects of anxiety, PTSD, infertility and complications after a long wished-for pregnancy. Motherhood turns out to be no pastel-toned panacea. She is vulnerable and relatable in her honesty and evocatively describes the contradiction of embracing and resenting motherhood, and the changes and sacrifices it demands. Fowles bravely gives permission to women who, however much they long to be mothers, struggle with losing parts of themselves in the process. She discovers the potent if counter-intuitive tonic of loosening her grip on a professional life she never wholly believed in.” —Pauline Dakin, author of Run, Hide, Repeat ""[A]n invitation to an ongoing conversation—rich, thoughtful, generous, questioning, kind. There were many times, as I was reading this wonderful book, that I wanted to reply with a heartfelt, ""Yes! And!"" For folks at any stage of being mothers / not-mothers, this book will provide sustenance, nourishment, healing. It's also beautifully written and crafted."" —Carrie Snyder, author of Francie's Got a Gun ""An unflinching, beautifully crafted collection of essays on infertility, motherhood, and the unseen labour expected of women. Stacey May Fowles captures the contradictions that so many mothers carry—the tension between longing and arrival, love and exhaustion, fulfillment and guilt after finally getting what was wanted for so long. Tender yet fierce, Stacey's prose offers rare permission to live inside the both/and."" —Anna Julia Stainshy, author of The Afterpains

Author Information

Stacey May Fowles is an award-winning journalist, author of six books and editor of four anthologies. Her writing has appeared in the Globe and Mail, the National Post, Reader’s Digest, Elle Canada, Toronto Life, The Walrus, and many others. Her non-fiction collection, Baseball Life Advice, was a national bestseller, and was selected by the Globe and Mail, the National Post, and Maisonneuve as a best book of the year, and her children's book, The Invitation, was named a Best Book for Kids by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre. Fowles lives in Toronto with her husband and daughter.

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