The Life of the Mind Summary
Christine Smallwood

The Life of the Mind Overview

The Life of the Mind, by Christine Smallwood, is the story of a young woman experiencing the drawn-out, unplanned ending of a pregnancy. As central character Dorothy endures the lingering after-effects of that ending, she finds herself confronted with several other endings, including her existential sense that society itself is disintegrating. As it portrays Dorothy’s deepening despair, the narrative also explores themes relating to mothers and mothering, the nature of shame, and the experience of defining life in terms of what is thought, rather than what is felt.