This Mother's Daughter [Paperback]

Nelvia M. Brady (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 9, 2001

"For a long time I didn't think that I was loved at all. I thought because I am not loved, I am therefore unworthy of being loved. I know now that that's not true. I know that Earline loved us in the way she was able to love. Now that I am older, I know that she was shaped by her experiences as much as I've been shaped by mine."

From the mouths of daughters, This Mother's Daughter shares the simple truths, "pearls", and complex wisdom we glean from the needs, hopes and wishes of our mothers and the unique relationship we share with them. These are daughters from all walks of life, whose stories express intense devotion as well as unveil their psychic scars. They move from early childhood to adult hood, where they face the mortality of the women they call Mother, Mama, Mom, Momma, Big Mama or Ma'Dear. Their powerful stories reveal the durability of the bonds they share with the women who influenced them most and the power that flows between each of these women as they learn, heal, and find self-love, above all.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Brady presents 20 stories gathered from interviews with hundreds of African American mothers and daughters. The 20 constitute a professional and geographical cross section of backgrounds, temperaments, and relationships, including adoptive and foster mothers as well as biological mothers, brutal and uncaring mothers as well as nurturing mothers. What the women share is profound recognition of the relationship between mothers and daughters--its passing on of wisdom and warnings, its sharing of experiences and simple truths. Pairs of interviews recount the particular mother-daughter relationships, the daughter's coming of age, and how well or poorly the mother handled her daughter's sexual awakening. The women talk about other rites of passage, too, such as marriage, childbearing, and child rearing, and recall familial violence and abuse as well as love and caring, indifference as well as driving ambition. The collection demonstrates generational differences in attitudes about marriage, careers, and finances--and an enduring legacy of women maintaining contact and passing on love and wisdom in complicated relationships. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"Women share their full stories...often with eye-averting frankness...Sometime poignant, sometimes humorous, but always real." --Black Issues Book Review

"Brady...succeeds in her mission to teach and to inspire with this testament to unconditional love." --Publishers Weekly

"Nelvia Bradyh has pulled together a rich collection of anecdotes, advice, and just plain sass. Her stories and recollections...will strike chords with every woman who reads it. These pages [present] a wonderful evocation of the mother-daughter relationship." --Belle Magazine

[This Mother's Daughter] is filled with the wisdom that mothers share with their daughters even under the most trying circumstances. It is written in a beautifully simple style from the mouths of everyday daughters." --Nancy Wilson, jazz singer

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; First Edition edition (May 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312278330
• ISBN-13: 978-0312278335
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,009,640 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Nubian Chronicles Highly Recommends, January 29, 2001

By 

Nelvia M. Brady - See all my reviews

This review is from: This Mother's Daughter (Hardcover)

One of the strongest relationships that can shape and mold a young woman's life is the one between her and her mother. Nelvia M. Brady's "This Mother's Daughter" is a collection of real-life stories taken from the daughters of African American mothers. These stories reflect the good and the bad, the joyful and the painful, and the wisdom and messages that these daughters received from their mothers...and thus USED in order to try and make their own lives as women and mothers better. I was profoundly touched by these stories and found myself moved to smiles and tears as I read the words from these women, women taken from all walks of life, from the attorney to the administrative assistant, from the middle-class/upper-life to the poverty level, from the happy childhood to one of abuse and adoption. Each story will resonate a strong powerful message to mothers and daughters everywhere. The book ends with a section titled RECLAIM YOUR STORY that contains questions for readers to answer in order to reflect upon their own relationships with the women in their lives. I would HIGHLY recommend this book to every woman...It conjured up thoughts of my own loving, beautiful connection I have with my mother...and had with my grandmother, and made me truly appreciate the beauty of the ties that bind. Shonnell Bacon

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Beautiful Tribute to the Wisdom of the Black Mother!!, January 28, 2001

By 

ChickLitGurrl™ "Shonell Bacon" (Lake Charles, LA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: This Mother's Daughter (Hardcover)

One of the strongest relationships that can shape and mold a young woman's life is the one between her and her mother. Nelvia M. Brady's "This Mother's Daughter" is a collection of real-life stories taken from the daughters of African American mothers. These stories reflect the good and the bad, the joyful and the painful, and the wisdom and messages that these daughters received from their mothers...and thus, USED in order to try and make their own lives as women and mothers better.

I was profoundly touched by these stories, and found myself moved to smiles and tears as I read the words from these women, women taken from all walks of life, from the attorney to the administrative assistant, from the middle-class/upper-life to the poverty level, from the happy childhood to one of abuse and adoption. Each story will resonate a strong, powerful message to mothers and daughters everywhere.

The book ends with a section titled RECLAIM YOUR STORY that contains questions for readers to answer in order to reflect upon their own relationships with the women in their lives.

I would HIGHLY recommend this book to every woman...it conjured up thoughts of my own loving, beautiful connection I have with my mother...and had with my grandmother, and made me truly appreciate the beauty of the ties that bind.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Your life isn't as bad as you think, June 26, 2000

By 

jenniffer (Chicago, Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: This Mother's Daughter (Hardcover)

Nelvia that book was so good I just didn't want to put it down and on some parts of the book before I could realize what I was doing I would be Crying due to the pain that some families had to go through. No matter where I was at reading this boo I just couldn't put it down in each and every Mother/Daughter story you felt like some part of that was what happened in your relationship with your mom so you just was able to relate to the daughter on some aspect and to the mother on the other if you are a parent. It just felt so real to me so whatever you do keep up the good work no keep up the great work because you just don't know how many people you have helped out just by them reading your book and realizing that it is someone else out there in the same situation as them or has gone through a smiliar problem.