Novelist Kathryn Trueblood. The author teaches at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington. Like her previous works The Baby Lottery and The Sperm Donor’s Daughter and Other Tales of Modern Family, feminist themes feature prominently in Take Daily as Needed, which highlights the politicized and gendered dimensions of caregiving. Photo by Suzanne Bair
Are we capable of loving and being loved, in sickness and in health? Writer Kathryn Trueblood poses this universal question to readers in her novel Take Daily As Needed (University of New Mexico Press, 2019). The novelist, who teaches at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington, uses a series of short stories to form her engaging narrative about Maeve Beaufort, a multitasker who struggles to care for her ailing parents and rebellious growing children, all while coping with her own demanding work schedule and crumbling marriage. A diagnosis of a Crohn’s disease complicates her life even further; yet Maeve, who has a dark sense of humor and steady resolve, navigates these daunting challenges like any one of us—imperfectly, and best as we can. That resolve, she reminds us, is in itself worth celebrating.
Part of what makes the novel so relatable is its honest portrayal of caregiving. While there may be a certain nobility involved with serving others, Maeve demonstrates there is nothing glamorous about its emotional toll. Although she is perceived by her parents as “the good child,” Maeve still feels inadequate and frustrated, even when dutifully going to lengths such as moving her mother into her house. She realizes she has no reprieve from this underlying current of tension in everyday life, where she must be “attuned to the brittle, vigilant to the tone of taking slight”—or in death, which is described by her mom as “...the final abandonment.” What we learn is this: Caregiving is not a singular interaction; it is an ongoing commitment to honor our loved ones, no matter how difficult times may be. As a young caregiver and previous disability support worker myself, this message resonated with me. Caregiving involves bearing witness to life.
In one rare moment following her father’s death, Maeve allows herself a moment of self-compassion.“I bow, understanding for the first time that no matter what messed-up things I do in my lifetime, no matter whose feelings I hurt in the long hurdle towards perceived happiness, what will count is the practice of good I undertook everyday, the small hope I carried into each exchange, the desire somewhere, in all of my failings, to have proved useful.” Here, Maeve acknowledges the conflicting feelings of love and pain that are only reconciled by her intentions to do good. Sometimes, that is enough.
As a parent, she similarly experiences this complicated dynamic with her two children—how, at the peak of our exasperation, we often only have our love to offer. After another visit to the psychiatrist about her young son’s ADHD, Maeve is so overwhelmed about the medicalization of his future that it is all she can do to reassure her son, if not herself. “‘Norman,’ I say, clasping his hands with my own to quiet them, ‘I love you.’ ‘I know,’ he says, looking intently into my brown eyes with his blue.”
Like Trueblood’s previous works The Baby Lottery and The Sperm Donor’s Daughter and Other Tales of Modern Family, feminist themes feature prominently in this novel, highlighting the politicized and gendered dimensions of caregiving. Maeve is conscious that her husband, Guy, is increasingly disappointed in her lack of domestic flair. Although he lauds gender equality, she is expected to take on extra child rearing and housekeeping duties and gets questioned for wanting to pursue further schooling to become a paralegal. This character dialogue reveals more than the dissolution of Maeve’s marriage. Indeed, it raises questions about whether modern society has kept pace with the needs of working mothers so they do not have to compromise their professional or intellectual pursuits.
Gender equality is a universal issue, and this novel shows it has further intergenerational implications. Maeve struggles to balance her own parental instincts while recognizing her daughter’s growing independence. In one instance, the past meets the present when Maeve’s own unresolved trauma leads her to cut a hiking trip short with her daughter after being spooked by male strangers. Although progress has been made with birth control policies and awareness about sexual assault, there continue to be perplexing modern challenges to navigate, such as digital harassment. Readers gain insight into the intertwining complexities both parents and children face making and unmaking mistakes together.
Take Daily As Needed may focus on caregiving and parenting, but its mature themes appeal to readers from any generation because ultimately, the novel is a meditation on relationships and the many ways they erode and sustain us, for better or for worse.—Brianna Cheng
Brianna Cheng is a graduate of McGill University, where she obtained her Master's of Science in Epidemiology. She also completed a Narrative Medicine Fellowship at Concordia University. Her work has appeared in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, CMAJ Blogs, and Families, Systems & Health. She currently serves as a section editor for the McGill Journal of Medicine. @withbrianna