For Mother's Day: "What My Mother Gave Me," edited by Elizabeth Benedict

Today's post is in honor of Mother's Day tomorrow. As a woman who has a wonderful mother, and is a mother to a wonderful adult daughter, I was of course drawn to a collection of essays by women writers titled “What My Mother Gave Me: Thirty-one Women on the Gifts that Mattered Most” (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2013), edited by the novelist Elizabeth Benedict (whose edited book, "Mentors, Muses & Monsters: 30 Writers on the People Who Changed Their Lives," was one of the very first books I wrote about on this blog). This book is easy to read quickly, but many of the contributions merit being read, or re-read, slowly. This could easily have been a collection of Hallmark-y, tritely sentimental pieces, but it isn’t; the brief essays are original, thoughtful, surprising, and touching. Not all of the writers had good relationships with their mothers, and some are very clear-eyed about their mothers’ shortcomings. But each of the writers has a memory of some point of connection and love, whether it be representative of a wonderful relationship or an exception in a difficult relationship. Sometimes the gift described is a physical object; sometimes it is a shared memorable experience; and sometimes it is a trait passed on from mother to daughter. Among the gifts are a photograph, a book, jewelry, clothing, a quilt, trips, a love of dressing well or of creating a hospitable home, and a positive attitude toward life. A bonus for me, and for many other readers, I am sure, is the chance to read some of our favorite writers as they share these very personal memories. The writers include, to name some of the authors with whose work I am most familiar, Mary Gordon, Joyce Carol Oates, Elissa Schappell, Caroline Leavitt, Katha Pollitt, Rita Dove, Lisa See, Marge Piercy, Mary Morris, and Elinor Lipman (about whose two 2013 books I have very recently posted).