The Woman Who Gave Birth to Her Mother: Tales of Transformation in Women's Lives

Rating:
Summary: For Mothers and Daughters
Review: Obviously the previous reviewer assumes all mother daughter relationships are like her own. For me, this book was an engrossing study of various themes in relationships, some of which are quite familiar and relevant to my own relationships with my mother and daughter. I found it a helpful and interesting book, and recommend it to all my friends and family.

Rating:
Summary: For therapists and serious problem cases only!
Review: This book not only shares the horrifying tales of several unhealthy mother/daughter relationships, but it also examines the process of actually sharing those stories -- how women remember and retell the tales. A therapist might find such analysis interesting, but the average reader will not. Also, the stories are WAY beyond what most of us think of as struggles with our moms or daughters.

Rating:
Summary: Daughters, Mothers, even Grandmothers ...
Review: Who said all families are dysfunctional? Kim Cernin helps prove it, but also offers creative and healthy ways to relate to our mother and daughter(s). It seems that as women we share common expectations of the 'right' way for good daughters and mothers to behave ... expectations that none of us can possibly live up to. In a series of artfully told stories, Ms. Cernin recounts ways her patients in therapy work to accept themselves and their mothers and learn to nuture themselves as they wish their mothers had. Ms. Cernin has made her book intimate and accessable by weaving in stories of her own daughter and mother. She confirmed for me that this is the some of the most important psychological work women do, that there are no instant solutions, and that it is a lifelong and ongoing task. It was a great relief for me to read stories so similar to my own attempts to understand and be understood by the most important women in my life. I wholeheartedly recommend "The Woman Who Gave Birth to Her Mother." I plan to send it to all my female relatives as soon as it comes out in paperback!