The Woman Who Gave Birth to Her Mother: Tales of Change in Women's Lives Book + PRICE WATCH * Amazon pricing is not included in price watch

The Woman Who Gave Birth to Her Mother: Tales of Change in Women's Lives Book

Kim Chernin, author of The Hungry Self and In My Mother's House, has already written extensively about her own mother. She has also collected countless mother stories--stories that have the force of myth that are told by women about their mothers. In this intriguing book, Chernin asserts that in order for daughters to become complete individuals, they must, in some sense, psychically "birth" their own mothers. In explaining this provocative theory, she presents characteristic elements of the mother story, including idealization, blame, guilt, forgiveness, and letting go ("giving birth"). She then challenges the reader to trace these elements and identify the themes in six "real but invented" portraits of women and their mothers. During this moving and sometimes confusing process, readers will eventually come to a new level of understanding about the complexities of the mother-daughter relationship--leaving any candy-coated, romanticized vision far behind. The Woman Who Gave Birth to Her Mother--beautifully written and often painful to read--generates more questions about mothers and daughters than it answers, but you'll never look at a mother-daughter story in the same way again. --Ericka Lutz Read More

from£N/A | RRP: £7.99
* Excludes Voucher Code Discount Also available Used from £N/A
  • Product Description

    "Giving birth to one's mother" is a symbolic act of self-creation that opens the door to autonomy and fulfilment. It is a model for breaking the pattern of the endless cycles of blame and forgiveness of mothers in which many women live out their lives. In this book, tales from the author's practice as a psychotherapist vividly illustrate how women can learn to let go of old patterns of behaviour and give birth to a new vision of their mothers. One learns to extricate herself from a stifling mother-daughter relationship, another admits the existence of her mother and brings her home from a 30-year-stay in a mental hospital. Another, adopted into a abusive family, embarks on an unlikely but ultimately life-changing and successful search for her birth mother.

  • 0140278567
  • 9780140278569
  • Kim Chernin
  • 6 May 1999
  • Penguin Books Ltd
  • Paperback (Book)
  • 240
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. If you click through any of the links below and make a purchase we may earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you). Click here to learn more.

Would you like your name to appear with the review?

We will post your book review within a day or so as long as it meets our guidelines and terms and conditions. All reviews submitted become the licensed property of www.find-book.co.uk as written in our terms and conditions. None of your personal details will be passed on to any other third party.

All form fields are required.