Her Face in the Mirror (Paperback)

by Faye Moskowitz (Editor)
Key Phrases: New York, Aunt Debs, Ava Gardner (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
In this rich collection of short stories, poems, essays and novel excerpts, Moskowitz (A Leak in the Heart) presents varied voices of Jewish mothers and daughters. The 56 contributors-among them Grace Paley, Tillie Olsen, Judith Viorst and Letty Cottin Pogrebin-offer a canvas filled with strong emotions, which are often painful but generally affirming. We read of mothers and daughters dealing with Jewish identity, with generational strains, with a love-hate bond. Most poignant are the daughters, tributes to their dead mothers and their yearnings for a relationship lost, as expressed in Judith Steinbergh's poem "No Answer": "I'm not into the afterlife/ and your burial pursues me/ without mercy,/ MA/ answer me."
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
Former National Public Radio commentator Moskowitz has gathered an astonishing collection of poems, stories, and essays that explore widely diverse issues like intergenerational conflict, religious orthodoxy, love, death, and the Holocaust. This is a penetrating look at the mother-daughter bond from the perspective of Jewish women. A persistent theme is the marginal status of the Jew in America as a metaphor for the status of women in Judaism. A wide range of writers from Grace Paley and Tillie Olsen to Sandra Bernhard and Irena Klepfisz raise their voices in these haunting and remarkable pages. Highly recommended.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Beacon Press; First Edition edition (September 30, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807036153
• ISBN-13: 978-0807036150
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,094,885 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A Magnificent Book About Jewish Mothers and Their Families, April 11, 2009

By	B. Brody "Fairbanks Reader" (Fairbanks, Alaska) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

What can I say about the incredible, vivid, poetic and right-on pieces in this book!! These Jewish mothers and their families seem so real, captured in literature for posterity. We cry, smile, get angry, yearn or run away fast. Whatever your reaction, you will remember these stories for a long time. My favorites were:

1. Only a Phase by Leslea Newman - A mother discovers that her daughter is a lesbian and can't accept it. In their geographic and emotional distance, we are given the literary gift of seeing how much alike they are and much they have in common.

2 Tropical Aunts by Enid Shomer - This story deals with the Jewish and WASP sides of a family along with the traditional and the eccentric. An eccentric aunt studies eastern religion and tells a writer's mother that her dead daughter is not really dead but will come back as something else. The family never speaks to her again.

3. The Different Landscape by Margaret Klee - A mother grapples with the grief and loss of her daughter after she comes out as a lesbian. The mother searches for the daughter she once knew and loved.

4. Looking for Tamerlane by Jodi Daynard - An estranged mother and daughter use the theme of searching for a rare book by Edgar Allen Poe as a reason to bring them together in a common activity. Otherwise, they are very aware of how difficult it is for them to tap into their love.

5. Mother I Hardly Knew You by Letty Cottin Pogrebin - This is a lovely insightful memoir of the author's mother who died when the author was 16 years old. How her mother influenced Ms. Pogrebin and how her legacy of leaving gave the author the strength to make choices that have been important to her is part of the anguish here. For in her dying, se gave Ms. Pogrebin the life she now has. While she was alive she gave Ms. Pogrebin the love and unconditional faith that only a mother can give.

6. A Leak in the Heart by Faye Moskowitz - This is a memoir of her mother's dying of breast cancer.
"I still grieve the words unsaid. Something terrble happens
when we stop the mouths of the dying before they are dead.
A silence grows up between us then, profounder than the
grave. If we force the dying to go speechless, the stone
dropped into the well will fall forever before the answering
splash is heard."

These are only a few of the pieces in this book. If any of these appeal to you, I hope you buy this book. It is a real gem.

4.0 out of 5 stars Jewish women on Mothers and Daughters - a wonderful book!, October 18, 2002

By	K. Corn "reviewer" (Indianapolis,, IN United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

I'm surprised I'm the first to review this one as I found it an absolute delight, containing the the viewpoints of 56 Jewish mothers and daughters on such diverse subjects as birth, anger, love, belonging, surviving, talking back, leaving home, when a mother dies, etc. Some of the writers were old favorites of mine (Maxine Kumin, Grace Paley) and others were new discoveries ( Robin Becker, Enid Shomer). A very rich collection of works, from poetry to short stories to memoirs.