Maxed Out: American Moms on the Brink

Katrina Alcorn was a 37-year-old mother with a happy marriage and a thriving career when one day on the way to Target to buy diapers she had a breakdown. Her carefully built career shuddered to a halt and her journey through depression anxiety and insomnia--followed by medication meditation and therapy--began. Alcorn wondered how a woman like herself with a loving husband a supportive boss three healthy kids and a good income was unable to manage the demands of having a career and a family. Over time she realized that she wasn't alone. As she questioned other working moms she realized that many women were struggling to do it all crashing and feeling as if they were somehow failing as a result. Mothers are the breadwinners in two-thirds of American families yet the American workplace is uniquely hostile to the needs of parents. Weaving in surprising research about the dysfunction between the careers and home lives of working mothers as well as the consequences to women's health Alcorn tells a deeply personal story about "having it all" failing miserably and what comes after. Ultimately she offers readers a vision for a healthier happier and more productive way to live and work.