Perhaps because Naomi is presented as so caring and selfless, in contrast to Willow and Martha’s sometimes selfish or erratic behaviours. While she has tried to move on, she knows she was to blame, and that she’s expected to endure a lifetime of guilt for what happened. How dare she assume her mother has no right to her own life, that she is too old to make her own decisions? Since the sudden death of her husband, Naomi has steadily rebuilt the life they shared in the village of Tilsham by the sea.

When Naomi bumped into Ellis, a man she’d known through university, their rekindling of friendship was immediate. Her eldest daughter, Martha, is sensible and determined – just like her father was – and very much in control of where her life is going. With thanks to HQ Digital and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Set in San Francisco, Ruth has a fraught relationship with her mother, LuLing, who suffers from dementia. When I finished the memoir, I told Indie about it during one of our Zoom visits, explaining how it reminded me of us, especially the ending.When my mother died in 2018, my grief was compounded by how much I didn’t know about my mother, of my mother, and when I had a daughter in 2002, I knew I wanted my daughter to know me, the girl I had been, the young woman I missed, yet often regretted, and the woman I am, as me, as Jill, the woman beyond her mother.

It is not only a great resource for mothers and daughters themselves, but also for therapists, clinicians, and students. It sends some significant messages to readers about acceptance of life choices and I appreciate this moral message that James is trying to convey. Suzanne Degges-White , PhD, LPC, LMHC, NCC, is Professor and Chair of the Counseling, Adult and Higher Education department at Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL. Easy-going drifter, Willow, has finally met a new boyfriend in Rick, whom her family seem to approve of, so why doesn’t she too feel convinced by his obvious overtures to settle down? The initial struggles are interesting as both Martha and Naomi are strong and know what they want in life, Martha desperately wants a baby whilst Naomi is concerned how her children will react to meeting her new boyfriend.Staring unflinchingly into the abyss of slavery, this spellbinding novel transforms history into a story as powerful as Exodus and as intimate as a lullaby. Photograph: Virago Art’s demands… the poet Anne Sexton, subject of a memoir by her daughter Linda Gray Sexton. Our three heroines lives are changing, but not always in the way they expect, and never independently of each other’s. The central characters are Naomi, a strong and resilient character, widowed after a long marriage to Colin. Ms James doesn’t use stereotypes, there are no wicked people or femme fatales which is so refreshing.