Through her work as a psychotherapist, teacher, and breastfeeding counsellor, and especially as the founder and host of Mothers Talking, Stadlen explored the profound transformation that women undergo when they become mothers. She emphasized the importance of each mother’s unique role in developing a loving relationship with her baby, and shone a light on the limitations of our existing language to describe it. Her bestselling books on family and motherhood include What Mothers Do – especially when it looks like nothing (2004), hailed as ‘the best book on parenting’ by The Guardian.

• Preface: Grandmothers’ voices1 The grandmother hypothesis2 ‘Mum, we’ve got something to tell you'3 ‘One thing we can give as grandmothers is praise’4 ‘They grow up quickly’5 ‘But [my grandson]’s always busy with his friends or computer’6 ‘As a grandmother, there are two of you’7 The couple relationship8 ‘She [grandmother] remembered talking to her grandmother’9 A generation of grandmothersConclusion: Invisible threads

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