Amazon.com Review
"I loved my mom very much. I also hated her." The confusion and pain experienced by daughters of alcoholic mothers remains a somewhat taboo subject, but is thoroughly explored in this fascinating and inspiring book by Eleanor Agnew and Sharon Robideaux. The two authors come from entirely different backgrounds: one is the daughter of an educated East Coast professional family; the other, from a family of poverty-stricken, uneducated Southerners. What they have in common is their childhood with alcoholic mothers, their consequent suffering of mental and physical abuse, and their struggle with the need to protect, keep secrets, and survive. Agnew and Robideaux gathered the stories in
My Mama's Waltz from more than 200 other daughters of alcoholic mothers, and the book brings with it the force of truth in numbers. Though all the tales in this compassionate and important book ring with clarity, it is the personal stories of Agnew and Robideaux that most strongly resonate with anguish, and, eventually, hope.
--Ericka Lutz
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
Academics Agnew (English, Georgia Southern) and Robideaux (writing, Univ. of Missouri) are also offspring of alcoholic mothers. They recount stories of their childhoods as well as the experiences of some 100 women they interviewed for their book. Their point of departure is the persistent view that alcoholism in women is more shameful than in men because it suggests weakness, inferiority and promiscuity. However debatable that contention, the authors argue convincingly that a drunken mother is more hurtful to a daughter than to a son, whose prescribed social role is to seek independence, whereas it's traditionally anticipated that a daughter will bond with her mother and use her as a role model. Thus a mother who abuses her daughter physically or verbally leaves unhealed wounds. The authors claim that repercussions of the abuse poison the daughter's relations with both men and women, although, they report, most resolve that their children will be spared the suffering they endured. Agnew and Robideaux estimate that at least four million women in America are afflicted by this legacy. These women should draw consolation from these harrowing accounts, if only to realize that their upbringing was not unique.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
