I Am My Mother's Daughter: Making Peace with Mom--Before It's Too Late

by Iris Krasnow

Overview

Iris Krasnow-mother, daughter, and bestselling journalist-tackles the toughest relationship in the lives of many grown women: the mother-daughter bond. With women's life expectancy inching up past 80, you may be embroiled with your mother well past the time your own hair turns white. The good news: Living longer means more time to make peace-and this book shows you how. Drawing on her own experience with her colorful 85-year-old mother and the collective wisdom of more than 100 other adult daughters, Krasnow offers a fresh perspective on how to overcome the anger, guilt, and resentment that can destroy a family. The time to repair the bond is now, she reminds us: You can't kiss and make up at her funeral. The key is to let go of the fantasy mom and embrace the flesh-and-blood woman, with all her flaws.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780465008384
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	08/01/2007
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	354,768
File size:	247 KB

About the Author

Iris Krasnow is a journalist and professor of communications at American University, and the author of the bestselling Surrendering series. She has been a guest on “Oprah,” CNN, the “Today” show, “Good Morning America,” “CBS Morning Show,” NPR's “All Things Considered,” and “The Hour of Power.” Krasnow began writing this book in response to her own mother's deteriorating health. She lives in Annapolis, Maryland.

Table of Contents

Prologue     ix
I Love You, I Hate You, I Am You     1
Letting Go of the Fantasy Mom     19
Embracing Mother Dearest     47
Love, Rage, and Stomachaches     75
Growing Old Together     121
Guilt, Grief, and Moving On     151
Rebirth After Death     181
Bibliography     217
Acknowledgments     221

Editorial Reviews

Making up with mother is no easy business. In Iris Krasnow's I Am My Mother's Daughter, the experience begins at home: She writes about reconciling as an adult with her difficult, strongly opinionated 84-year-old mother. Krasnow draws on her own experiences and those of other baby-boomer women to show that it is never too late to ditch painful baggage and learn to love Mom anew.

At 50, American University communications professor Krasnow (Surrendering to Marriage) reconciled with her difficult mother, a Holocaust survivor and former saleswoman. Here she gathers insights from other adult women with diverse backgrounds and experiences but similar life wisdom: "Ditching old baggage and learning to love our mothers must come before we learn to love, and know, ourselves." A private investigator becomes caretaker to her highly competent mother, a former nurse, and discovers that the Superwoman is merely human; a Trinidadian immigrant and victim of spousal abuse accepts her lawyer daughter's lesbianism and gains her respect. A therapist and survivor of eating disorders shares a marital problem with her "historically non-empathetic" mother and is gratified by her response; a social services professional pushing 70 learns to cope with the 96-year-old family matriarch who still treats her like a child. Celebrities get to vent, too: singer Chynna Phillips reconnects with her neglectful rock star mother, Michelle, of the Mamas and the Papas, as they bond over Chynna's children and a passion for music. Although it doesn't pack the punch that Nancy Friday's revolutionary My Mother/My Self did in its day, Krasnow's worthy effort will resonate with introspective baby boomers.(May) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Based on interviews and her own experiences, author and journalist Krasnow (communications, American Univ.; Surrendering to Marriage: Husbands, Wives, and Other Imperfections) illustrates how all daughters can improve their relationships with their mothers. Her thesis embraces the belief that healing can be achieved in even the most horrible relationships and that healing gives peace and understanding to the daughter as she ages. This very upbeat and insightful text will surely be of wide interest, since the mother-daughter relationship rivets nearly all women's attention, but it especially speaks to middle-aged women who have already achieved a level of maturity, achievement, and independence in their lives. A bibliography and/or a notes section would have enhanced the author's work (there are only a few pages of references); all the same, it is highly recommended for public libraries of all sizes.-Kay Brodie, Chesapeake Coll., Wye Mills, MD Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

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