Dear Minnie

Brought to you by Penguin.

"It was the first time I’d ever signed ‘Mummy’, and it was a goodbye letter."

"I feel so honoured to have carried you both for nine months and delivered you safely into the arms of your parents."
"I knew I had to be in that little girl's life. The next time I got out, I never used drugs again."
"As a refugee, I say to my daughter, 'You have been born in a safe place. Never take that for granted.'”

After having her first child, Stacey Dooley had a new understanding of what family means – but not everyone’s experience of motherhood is the same. In Dear Minnie, Stacey brings her trademark empathy and investigative skill to an entirely new ‘frontline’, exploring the varied perspectives of mothers of all experiences. Using letters that each mother has written to their child as her starting point, Stacey’s frank, honest, and moving inquiry takes in experiences from pregnancy to birth and beyond, uncovering the messy truths and different emotional journeys women take, as well as the common bonds they all share.

Dear Minnie shines a light on the quiet selflessness, resilience, pain, trauma, grief, and joy of every kind of mother, to tell a story that transcends culture and geography, and speaks to us all.

© Stacey Dooley 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025