I read once that the only way to cure yourself of compulsive, repetitive thoughts that frighten you is to indulge them," says Ayelet Waldman, author of the Mommy Track series (Berkley), among other novels. "It's the pushing away of the fear that keeps it alive." Most everyone knows—but most particularly parents—what it's like to beat back the terrible fantasies that can dance through your head. These books allowed Waldman to, as she puts it, "spin out my ugliest fears to the bitter end." And she came back just a little braver for having done so.

The Fifth Child
By Doris Lessing (Knopf)

"This is a novel about an incredibly happy family. There are four children in a big, rambling house full of bustling life ... and then the mother gets pregnant. The fifth child: It's as if he is a genetic throwback to a Neanderthal creature. He's an animal. He's not crazy; he's just true to himself. And it destroys the family. When I read this before I was a mother, I thought, Oooh, this is creepy. But once I became a mother, it symbolized for me this idea that every time you have a child, it's a complete risk. Which is both exciting and terrifying."

A Life's Work
By Rachel Cusk (Fourth Estate)

"What I admire about Cusk is her honesty, the way she is willing to flay herself in order to show the dark side of motherhood. Taking on this outlaw role is a very scary thing. I once wrote a piece in which I said, basically, that I love my husband more than my children—so I know both how hard it is to take such risks and how much flak you get for doing so. This book is honest and raw about maternal ambivalence, by which I mean loving your children like crazy and at the same time being scared about losing your own identity. You change when you become a mother; it's a transformative experience. The question is, what transforms, and how do I manage to keep the parts of what I know and love about myself?"

Sophie's Choice
By William Styron (Vintage)

"When I had babies, I found myself oddly obsessed with the Holocaust. Motherhood allowed me to understand, at a very different level, the magnitude of the horror. Recently my family was in Wyoming, where we went dogsledding, and my 4-year-old, who had been having a great time, suddenly began to cry because he was so cold. I started rubbing his hands and warming him, then flashed to what it must have felt like not to be able to warm your freezing child. The novel also brings up the taboo topic of choosing one child over another. If you have a number of children, as I do, you know that you love all of them but there are times you like one more than another. Feeling this is a source of tremendous guilt, even if you are never forced to act on it. But having no choice but to act on it? My God."

"People Like That Are the Only People Here," from Birds of America
By Lorrie Moore (Knopf)

"A number of years ago, I was pregnant and found out that the baby suffered from a genetic abnormality. We made the choice to terminate the pregnancy. Suddenly the world was divided into two groups for me: those who had experienced what I had and understood, and those who had not and could not. I joined an online support group called A Heartbreaking Choice. While that group was incredibly important to me, part of me hated it. In her story [about a mother whose baby is diagnosed with cancer], Moore captures that sense of suddenly being in a club that you don't want to be in, that you resent being in. And yet at the same time, these people whose company you loathe are the only people who really understand what you feel. I love the way Moore walks that razor's edge."

Perfect Madness
By Judith Warner (Riverhead)

"So many contemporary American mothers are unhappy or feel that they are not as happy as they should be. I think Warner does an amazing job both describing this maternal malaise and trying to figure out its source. She describes the cycle of compulsive, competitive parenting we're all stuck in nowadays, and how it makes us feel so bad about ourselves—and one another."

Flux
By Peggy Orenstein (Doubleday/Anchor)

"This book addresses women in different decades of their lives—their 30s, 40s, and 50s. Orenstein shows how hard we're struggling to figure out who we are. So many of the women interviewed feel frustrated and lost. It reminded me of the main character in Kate Chopin's The Awakening, which is about a mother trapped by the constrictions of her life. Chopin's book was written more than 100 years ago, and yet, as Flux makes clear, we are still locked in the same battle."

Is Your Mama a Llama?
By Deborah Guarino and Steven Kellogg

"As silly as it sounds, this is my favorite of all the books I read to the kids when they were babies. It takes for granted the omnipresence of your mama. She will always be there, and she's perfect—for you. I loved that idea, especially when I was most insecure about whether or not I was doing a good enough job."