Crossing The Moon [Hardcover]

Paulette Bates Alden (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1996

Crossing the Moon is a memoir--at once witty and wistful--in which the author recounts her initial ambivalence about motherhood, the pain and frustration of following a course of treatment for infertility, and ultimately the birth of a new self, a writer comfortable at last with her family of two. It also touches a wide array of other issues.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

After a comment by her mother that "people who don't have children are the most selfish people in the world," the 39-year-old author (Feeding the Eagles) and her husband, Jeff, began trying in earnest to have a child. In this often touching memoir, Alden details the medical procedures she underwent after learning that her progesterone level was too low to sustain pregnancy. She also describes how her infertility initially impacted negatively on her self-image and gave her physical problems. The product of a 1950s Southern girlhood, Alden had to overcome cultural expectations that she marry and become a mother immediately after college in order to pursue a career as a writer. Eventually her writing, in addition to support from her husband and other women in the same situation as hers, enabled Alden to end her struggle to become pregnant and to enjoy and appreciate life without motherhood.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In this memoir, Alden, a writer and teacher, has written more about her life in general than her struggle with infertility. She describes her Southern upbringing and college years in the turbulent 1960s, when traditional roles were seen as suppressing women. As she concentrated on her writing career and then a marriage in her thirties, motherhood seemed like a desperate afterthought. Alden does share some of the consuming and heart-rending experiences of infertility, which include grueling treatment and emotional upheaval. Her story is an example of how a couple can survive infertility and accept childfree living, but the difficulties of reaching that decision are not well expressed. A better choice is Jean W. Carter's Sweet Grapes (Perspectives Pr., 1989).?Lisa A. Errico-Cox, Nassau Community Coll. Lib., Stewart Manor, N.Y.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 295 pages
• Publisher: Ruminator Books (September 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1886913080
• ISBN-13: 978-1886913080
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,512,993 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a great read, April 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Crossing The Moon (Hardcover)

I picked this book up because of the topic but it was so much more than an infertility story:it was a great chronicle of one womans growing up.When I was done I felt I had made a new friend and was sad to put the book down.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Is your baby clock ticking?, February 19, 1999

By 

E. Voves (Philly, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Crossing The Moon (Hardcover)

Or about to run out of time all together? Then this book is for you...or anyone else who loves suberb memoir writing. We need to keep hearing from Bates Alden on a regular basis. She has important things to tell us.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I had no idea!, December 27, 2008

By 

Genie Smith "bread slicer" (Phoenix, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Crossing The Moon (Hardcover)

I had no idea that some women go through such a protracted, painful process to bear children. Oh, I knew not every one of us conceived at just the "right" time and that some of us had to "work" at becoming pregnant but I had no idea what the emotional toll was on women who had to make a conscious effort to conceive. Ms. Alden has written a novel of her experience in that area and through it all kept her sense of humor and her sense of self. I'm happy for her and proud of her fortitude.