Every Woman I'Ve Ever Loved: Lesbian Writers on Their Mothers [Paperback]

Catherine Reid (Editor), Holly Iglesias (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1997

"I have wanted to find my mother in every woman I've ever loved," writes Catherine Reid in the introduction to this refreshingly complex and original anthology. "I have ached to find traces of her smell, her touch, the way she would cradle the back of my head, her songs. I had to turn forty before I could admit that to myself or acknowledge how often a similar yearning shows up in the people around me. Relationships with mothers are complicated for everyone - men and women, heterosexual, gay and bisexual. But for lesbians, that core relationship is especially powerful, blessed (or burdened) with a multiplicity of emotions and desires. In Every Woman I've Ever Loved, an impressive line-up of lesbian authors examines the mother/daughter relationship .... in essays, poems and dramatic monoloogues, and even one photo essay. As women who love women, these writers bring passionate intensity and complicated depths to this fundamental, first love. Dorothy Allison, Gloria Anzalda, Claudia Bepko, Meg Daly, Jyl Lynn Felman , Marilyn Hacker, Holly Hughes, Audre Lorde, Laura Markowitz, Jane Miller, Cherre Moraga, Joan Nestle, Linda Niemann, Minnie Bruce Pratt, Mattie Richardson , Maureen Seaton, Mab Segrest, Shay Youngblood and others.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In her introduction to this collection of essays, Catherine Reid suggests that the complications of mother-child relationships are more intensified and distilled for lesbians than for others, because both our own bodies and those of lovers can evoke the memory of mother. About half of the 28 essays in this book, by writers such as Audre Lorde, Joan Nestle, and Dorothy Allison, have been previously published; the other half were written for this anthology. Mab Segrest writes eloquently and sadly about her dead mother's relation to Segrest's writing and anti-racist activism. The excerpt from Holly Hughes's World Without End captures the giddy nervousness of a daughter seeing her mother naked. Shay Youngblood's spare vignette describes the affinity between a mother and daughter whose bodies are breaking. Every Woman I've Ever Loved is an extremely powerful collection, best read slowly with time for weeping.

From the Publisher

Refreshingly complex look at the relationship between lesbians and their mothers.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 213 pages
• Publisher: Cleis Pr; 1st edition (September 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573440302
• ISBN-13: 978-1573440301
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,230,640 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm glad to see this is still in print!, June 13, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Every Woman I'Ve Ever Loved: Lesbian Writers on Their Mothers (Paperback)

I was under the impression this was out of print; I'm glad to see it's (possibly) still available. This is a very moving anthology, often very sad, but also humorous at times. It contains a good selection of famous and not-so-famous authors. As you can tell by the title, all of the authors are lesbians, but really this book is good for anybody (particularly any woman) who has ever had a mother. I think it would make a good Mother's Day gift, too.