Customer Reviews

Because I Love Her: 34 Women Writers Reflect on the Mother-Daughter Bond

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I'm a sucker for books that delve into mother/daughter relationships. I am both a mother and a daughter, and I always seem to relate just a little to the stories. BECAUSE I LOVE HER: 34 WOMEN WRITERS REFLECT ON THE MOTHER-DAUGHTER BOND edited by Andrea N. Richesin is a book that brings a whole new dimension to the mother/daughter bond. This book is a collection of 34 essays by famous women writers about their personal experiences with their mothers and/or daughters.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It goes without saying that many of these women who wrote essays for this book are extremely gifted writers so the prose is beautiful. In addition, these women know how to tell a story and it seems like they each have a very special one to share. Their essays will make you laugh, cry, and even shake your head; but they all tell a story worth reading.

Not all the mother/daughter relationship stories were happy -- quite a few caused me to tear up and thank God that I do have good relationships with my grandmothers, mother, and daughter. The stories in this book seemed very real and honest to me. I was amazed by how many of the women in this book had less than optimal mothers and managed to overcome it and find success and happiness in their lives. While the stories weren't always happy, the ultimate messages were generally upbeat and very life affirming. You can't help but be touched by the love that is shared between mothers and daughters.

I enjoyed all of the stories in one way or another, but there were a few that affected me quite a bit. Sometimes it was because I adore the author (like Katherine Center) but other times it was because I could really relate to the story. I am fortunate enough to still have both of my grandmothers alive (as I approach 40!) I absolutely love reminiscing how they played with me when I was younger. But I treasure even more that my daughter has had the chance to know and love them. I get choked up when I think about the traditions that we carry down from one woman to another in my family. Whether it's something big like our holiday celebrations or something small like a little prayer, it means so much to me that we have those things in common. For example, there is a ten word prayer that my grandmother taught my mother when she was a toddler. My mother taught it to me and I have since taught it to my daughter. Everytime I think of that little prayer, I think of how incredibly special it is that we all have prayed it together through the years.

I think BECAUSE I LOVE HER would make the perfect Mother's Day gift either for a special woman in your life.

I rarely read collections of essays (David Sedaris being the main exception), but yet I absolutely loved this wonderfully and intensely touching and emotionally charged book. It was "assigned" for my mom's group book club and I only picked it up the day before the meeting, thinking I would skim through some of the essays. I ended up spending the entire day reading and was even excited to get up for my 4:00 a.m. feeding so that I could continue it. While reading, I sat holding my 6 week old daughter, often crying, sometimes laughing, and feeling compelled to share with her the legacy she has inherited from my amazing mother and the hopes and dreams I have for her as she grows up. I have since purchased a copy for my mother and best friend and would recommend it to anyone who has a mother and a daughter.

This is one of those books that you can't stop reading, but at the same time never want to finish it. It's a honest, heartwarming, memory awakening, wonderfully written book.

I got this book for my mom, and for several other moms of daughters I know, and now it's gotten back to me--totally beaten up, wrinkled, dirty, and well-read--from my own mom.

I love this book a lot. I read an essay per night and wish it would never end ...

This was a great anthology. The writers were gifted and diverse in history/demographic, etc. As a mother of a daughter, and of course a daughter myself, I cried after many of the stories. However, this is not fluffy, hallmark reading-- some of the stories are tough. But woven throughout was a road map of what matters in being a daughter and a mother of a girl. It is a wonderful read.

I loved this anthology. The subject of mothers and daughters is a complex one, and the women writers who contributed to this book explore their own relationships in a touching, yet unsentimental way. I laughed, cried, winced, smiled, and at the end found myself feeling a kinship towards many of them. Most of the contributors are both daughters and mothers themselves, so they are at that unique time in their life of coming to terms with the past as well as looking at the future. There is a lot of raw truth here, and in most cases, forgiveness for imperfection in their both their mothers and themselves. I just purchased a copy for my mother, and would recommend it for any woman in your life. Perfect Mother's Day gift!

There are certain books that elevate the human condition. This is one of those books. Not simply due to the fact that we all have some kind of relationship with our mothers; the good, the bad, the ugly and hopefully the transcendent. But also because within these stories, the writers have invited us to join them in ways that offer hope and a kind of self-deprecating wonder. Andrea Richesin has managed, with this thoughtful collection of writers, to weave a tapestry of colors of the emotional terrain of motherhood. At times mundane, silly, beautiful, angry, heart wrenching and yet always unflinchingly honest and thought provoking. I saw myself, my friends, my mother and my daughter in many of these stories. And then I bought the book for all of them. It is not easy to pick a favorite story. They all sing their own song in their own key and each one rings true to me at different times. I have now read it at least twice and I keep it handy for times when I need a moment of sometimes uncomfortable and yet forgiving recognition of where I am as a woman, a mother and a daughter. I cannot recommend this enough. Buy it for yourself and then for all the women you know.

This is a great read for mothers of daughters! I read it very quickly and it is definitely a book I will read again and again. I would buy this as a gift for any friends who have daughters.

There is also a version of this book written for fathers who have daughters. I have purchased this for my husband for father's day and I hope he finds it as inspiring as I found this book.

I met several of the authors (Nicki Richesin, Joyce Maynard, Anne Marie Feld and Rachel Sarah)at a Super Stars Literacy, Inc. sponsored event and walked away with an armful of books I purchased for my mother, my three daughters and close friends. What an afternoon! I left with the realization that not every woman was as fortunate as I to have such a wonderful relationship with my mother, and what a treasure it was to have her as a role model when I became a mother myself. For that experience, I am truly grateful. Through these stories, Nicki Richesin has shown that, whether happy or sad, uplifting or poignant, we all have a story that weaves through the fabric of our lives, and deserves to be told. I encourage you to write your own today, even if it's only for yourself, you may discover a fascinating tale! Cheers to the women who shared their intimate stories, and their unique perspectives on this essential relationship!

I had the pleasure of hearing Karen Joy Fowler and Anne Marie Feld read their essays from Because I Love Her at the Capitola Book Cafe in spring of 2009, right before Mother's Day. Yes, it was a dynamic reading, and yes, I scooped up a copy - eager to present as a gift to my own mother, but moreover I was impressed by the degree to which Because I Love Her illustrates the complexities of the mother/daughter relationship. Each essay and narrative voice really does make the book's theme fresh and original, recreating and elaborating on the complexities of what it's like to be a mother/a daughter/both. I was also thrilled when my mother's face lit up as she read the back cover, then flipped to a random essay and read it with me sitting by her side.