the Sisterhood of Black Single Mothers that arose in the US in the early 1970s. There has been a wave of wonderfully radical examinations of motherhood in recent years. But no one has deeply examined the specific questions and communal histories of single motherhood. Like queer relationships, single motherhood has always been an anathema to patriarchy. Now, a long history of the mother as a mere channel through which a man's progeny is birthed and nurtured into an heir is waning. We no longer need to relinquish our independence or sexual selves to a man to legitimise our children. Yet for all the feminist arguments made against marriage half a century ago and more, women who choose to be mothers still aren't offered much else. Single mothers have always been a thorn in society's side, revealing its structural and ideological shortcomings. The welfare state's earliest incarnation was public assistance for lone mothers, breaking the ground for others to receive social support. Unpacking the hardships single mothers face today, Russell argue that the transformation that society must undergo to accommodate our ways of life are essential to make homes and workplaces fit for all women, and to create a more just and sustainable society.