Other People's Mothers

The short stories in OTHER'S PEOPLE'S MOTHERS are snapshots of the wisdom, humor, and errors made by women as they interact with their children as youngsters and adults. Mothers in fiction are often reduced to stereotypes of good, like Carol Brady and Claire Huxtable in television programs, or bad, like Mommy Dearest. Even Tolstoy over simplified families and mother when he said, "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." In practice, no family is always happy, and no mother is perfect. Perhaps that's good. Much of the diversity we treasure in others reflects the quirks of their mothers' personalities. Think how boring life would be if we all had perfect mothers. The mothers in these vignettes certainly are not perfect, and that's why they're intriguing. They made choices. The narrators of the stories often didn't understand the basis of the mothers' decisions because of incomplete information or personal biases. Accordingly, they warped the portraits of the mothers. Think how you and your siblings remember childhood events differently. Perhaps OTHER PEOPLE'S MOTHERS will help you take a fresh look at your mother and gain a more realistic understanding of yourself.