num_pages: 288
description: ONE OF NPRS BEST BOOKS OF 2019 *Most Anticipated Reads of 2019 by Publishers Weekly BuzzFeed The Rumpus Lit Hub The Week and Elle.com* Fifteen brilliant writers explore what we dont talk to our mothers about and how it affects us for better or for worse.As an undergraduate Michele Filgate started writing an essay about being abused by her stepfather. It took her more than a decade to realize what she was actually trying to write: how this affected her relationship with her mother. When it was finally published the essay went viral shared on social media by Anne Lamott Rebecca Solnit and many others. The outpouring of responses gave Filgate an idea and the resulting anthology offers a candid look at our relationships with our mothers. While some of the writers in this book are estranged from their mothers others are extremely close. Leslie Jamison writes about trying to discover who her seemingly perfect mother was before ever becoming a mom. In Cathi Hanauers hilarious piece she finally gets a chance to have a conversation with her mother that isnt interrupted by her domineering (but lovable) father. Andr Aciman writes about what it was like to have a deaf mother. Melissa Febos uses mythology as a lens to look at her close-knit relationship with her psychotherapist mother. And Julianna Baggott talks about having a mom who tells her everything. As Filgate writes Our mothers are our first homes and thats why were always trying to return to them. Theres relief in breaking the silence. Acknowledging what we couldnt say for so long is one way to heal our relationships with others and perhaps most important with ourselves. Contributors include Cathi Hanauer Melissa Febos Alexander Chee Dylan Landis Bernice L. McFadden Julianna Baggott Lynn Steger Strong Kiese Laymon Carmen Maria Machado Andr Aciman Sari Botton Nayomi Munaweera Brandon Taylor and Leslie Jamison.
language: English
title: What My Mother and I Don't Talk About: Fifteen Writers Break the Silence
publisher: Simon & Schuster