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Summary: THE COURIER-JOURNAL reviews This Mother's Daughter
Review: At 51 years old, Nelvia M. Brady began to give serious thought to having a baby. And to think, Brady seemed so level-headed. She' s a former chancellor of the City Colleges of Chicago, and until recently was vice president of an executive search firm in Chicago. But not to worry. At a book party at Sandi Castine's home in Prospect last Saturday night, Brady explained that it wasn't a real baby that she had had in mind. What she finally gave birth to was her first self-published book, This Mother 's Daughter. Open the pages of Brady' s baby and what tumbles out are vignettes, poems, recollections and sage wisdom from the ages. The contributors to This Mother's Daughter are young, old and middle-aged. They live in disparate states and countries, and run the gamut from evangelists and welfare recipients to housewives and Ph.D.s, of which Brady is one. Self-described, Brady' s book " is a simple work that shares the stories and experiences and simple truths of African-American daughters learned from their mothers." Brady has added her voice to the growing body of "mother-daughter" literature. My own collection, for example, includes such books as My Mother Had a Dream: African American Women Share their Mothers' Words of Wisdom by Tamara Nikuradse; What Mama Couldn't Tell Us About Love: Healing the Emotional Legacy of Slavery, Celebrating our Light by Brenda Lane Richardson and Dr. Brenda Wade; and The Source of the Spring: Mothers Through the Eyes of Women Writers compiled by Judith Shapiro, president of Barnard College.One critic described the last book as an "exquisite collection of memories by writers of soaring talent," including Ann Bernays, Anna Quindlen, Zora Neale Hurston, Margaret Mead, Erica Jong, June Jordan, Ntozake Shange and Edwidge Danticat. Royalties from The Source of the Spring go into Barnard College' s scholarship fund. Brady' s book is a new delight. I especially love the old-fashioned names of many of the mothers and daughters. When is the last time you've encountered baby girls named Jessie Pearl, Mavis, Magnolia, Fannie, Olive, Vernell, Leotha, Irment, Mable, Samella, Luella or Della? There's even a Roxie in the book, which was my grandmother's name. For some reason names like that remind me of all-day church on Sunday, fried chicken and country people. On Saturday at Sandi' s, there were nods of approval when Brady said, love our mothers or not, all of us are our mothers' daughters. The book party was a marvelous door opening into Women's History Month. It reminded me once again that I am blessed to have had my mother as my guide and best friend. She understood me better than I understand myself, and quite frankly, it's been difficult trying to be my own mother since she died in 1996. After most of Sandi's guests had departed Saturday, the women who stayed behind, including the guest of honor, formed a prayer circle. Sandi prayed first, and then Ethel Alston, an attorney, read from the Old Testament book of Ruth, the part where the elderly widow Naomi, whose two sons have died, is trying to shoo away her daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth. There was no good reason to remain with an old lady, Naomi explained. Her daughters-in-law were still young and likely to find life and love again among their own people, the Moabites. With her husband and both sons dead, Naomi, in her patriarchal society, was as good as dead herself. The three women wept, and eventually Orpah kissed Naomi and left. But the story says that Ruth clung to Naomi, telling the old lady that wherever she went, Ruth would follow. Wherever Naomi lived, Ruth would live, and Naomi' s people would be Ruth' s people, and Naomi' s God Ruth's God. In her 1998 book, Just A Sister Away: A Womanist Vision of Women' s Relationship in the Bible, the Rev. Dr. Reni-ta J. Weems, who teaches Old Testament Studies at Vanderbilt Divinity School in Nashville, wrote that in time, Ruth gave Naomi new purpose and reasons to keep on living. "Each woman, in her own way and at her own pace, reached out to the other, nurturing when called upon, mothering when necessary, sistering when needed." Ideally, Women's History Month is a time for women to come together, to learn about ourselves, and to be, if we can, to one another what Ruth became to Naomi: an inspiration, a ray of light that other women can run toward and be refreshed and renewed. THE COURIER-JOURNAL Louisville, Kentucky
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Summary: WILL STRIKE CHORDS WITH EVERY WOMAN
Review: BELLE Magazine January 2001 A remarkable woman of spirit and accomplishment, Nelvia M. Brady went from the Chicago projects to the highest levels of education in that city, being both the first African American and the first woman to serve as Chancellor of the City Colleges. Now she has pulled together a rich collection of anecdotes, advice, and just plain sass in a book called This Mother's Daughter. Her stories and recollections of the wisdom passed on from mothers to daughters in the African American tradition will strike chords with every woman who reads it. Sometimes the epitome of devotion, sometimes the scars of classic conflicts delineate these pages, and taken all together they comprise a wonderful evocation of the mother-daughter relationship. The striking cover is the work of Ophelia M. Chambliss, a fine artist whose work we would like to see more of. Brady self published this book and features it on her website www.thismothersdaughter.com adding entrepreneurship to all of her other achievements.
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Summary: WILL STRIKE CHORDS WITH EVERY WOMAN
Review: BELLE Magazine January 2001 A remarkable woman of spirit and accomplishment, Nelvia M. Brady went from the Chicago projects to the highest levels of education in that city, being both the first African American and the first woman to serve as Chancellor of the City Colleges. Now she has pulled together a rich collection of anecdotes, advice, and just plain sass in a book called This Mother's Daughter. Her stories and recollections of the wisdom passed on from mothers to daughters in the African American tradition will strike chords with every woman who reads it. Sometimes the epitome of devotion, sometimes the scars of classic conflicts delineate these pages, and taken all together they comprise a wonderful evocation of the mother-daughter relationship. The striking cover is the work of Ophelia M. Chambliss, a fine artist whose work we would like to see more of. Brady self published this book and features it on her website www.thismothersdaughter.com adding entrepreneurship to all of her other achievements.
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Summary: Powerful Testament
Review: I found the book(This Mother's Daughter ) to be a profound, powerful testament of the various relationships between mothers and daughters. I truly enjoyed the book.
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Summary: A must read for every mothers daughter
Review: I have recently read this mothers daughter and it evoked the full range of human emotion about daughers and their lives and relationships with their mothers. It made me laugh, it made me cry and I couldn't put it down. I can't wait until she comes out with her next book I'll be sure to get it.
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Summary: Your life isn't as bad as you think
Review: 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.
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Summary: A Beautiful Tribute to the Wisdom of the Black Mother!!
Review: 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.
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Summary: The Nubian Chronicles Highly Recommends
Review: 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
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Summary: The Nubian Chronicles Highly Recommends
Review: 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
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Summary: Publishers' Weekly Reviews This Mother's Daughter
Review: PUBLISHERS WEEKLY APRIL 10, 2000 PAGE 90 "Life will offer you either lessons or blessings," one mother instructs in Nelvia M. Brady's This Mother's Daughter. This warm and engaging collection of African-American women's wisdom is filled with both. With stories that are alternately candid, humorous and painful, 20 daughters from all walks of life recount their rites of passage, what they learned from their mothers and how their relationships were affected by such issues as adoption, interracial relationships, lesbianism and illness. Brady, the first African-American and the first woman to serve as the Chancellor of the City Colleges of Chicago, succeeds in her mission to teach and to inspire with this testament to unconditional love.
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