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This is a timely book with what might be construed as an ironic title - why do we need proof that love matters? Freud (1914) in his paper ‘On narcissism’ came to the conclusion that without love the human psyche was condemned to sterile self-obsession. Freud, in fact, receives short shrift in Gerhardt's book and there are frequent somewhat dismissive references to the Freudian project, as if all the new science that she quotes renders him obsolete. She states that ‘… unlike Freud, who searched beneath the surface of personality for the primal drives, the sexual and aggressive urges that he felt were the unseen motors of human life’, she looks instead ‘for the unseen patterns of relationship that are woven into our body and brain in babyhood’ (Gerhardt, p. 13). In fact, it could be argued that what we now know of the surprising capacity of the infant to communicate with others from the moment of birth contrasts profoundly with Freud's view of ‘his majesty the baby’, the embodiment of his parents' narcissistic investment. It might be interesting later in the review to consider whether Freud does still have relevance in view of recent findings in neuroscience.
Gerhardt's main concern in this book, however, is to draw together recent work in neuroscience and attachment research in order to argue for the importance of early affective experience in sculpting the newborn brain and in creating subsequent attachment patterns. In this respect, her book adds valuable weight to the argument for more investment in early infancy and in supporting parents in the work of loving and caring for their babies. Gerhardt includes a number of quotes from the feminist literature which are very moving, describing the struggles of mothers to care for their infants through moments of exhaustion and despair, sometimes losing a sense of themselves in the process, yet with a fierce pride and love for their babies: ‘To be a mother I must leave the telephone unanswered, work undone, arrangements un