Stories of mothers, for and by moms, sons and daughters
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Mothers are great material for writers. Everybody has one, right? From Genesis to Shakespeare to Amy Tan, mothers have been fueling the creative fires (and conflicts) of authors, pretty much from Day 1.
In honor of Mother's Day, the editors of Book Magazine put together this "gift guide for book-loving moms." These volumes feature mothers, and are by some of the liveliest writers working today:
"Back When We Were Grownups" by Anne Tyler (Knopf, $25). A woman working as a professional party-giver in Baltimore tries, at age 53, to figure out whether she has become the woman she was really supposed to be. Seattle Times reviewer Valerie Ryan called the book "a masterful job of combining humor, wisdom and large doses of reality."
"The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio" by Terry Ryan (Simon & Schuster, $24). A memoir of a resourceful mother of 10 who saved her family from destitution by winning cash prizes for her poems, limericks and contest entries.
"The Bonesetter's Daughter" by Amy Tan (Putnam, $25.95). A young woman translates the papers of her mother, who is suffering from Alzheimer's, and learns the powerful story of her mother's struggle to survive.
"Five Quarters of the Orange" by Joanne Harris (Morrow, $25). The author of "Chocolat" tells of a woman who returns to her childhood home, a French village, and rediscovers her and her mother's past, in part through a scrapbook of her mother's recipes.
"Shiksa Goddess" by Wendy Wasserstein (Knopf, $23). Wasserstein, a prize-winning playwright, pens essays that include the story of her becoming a first-time mother of a premature infant.
"Mothers Who Think: Tales of Real-Life Parenthood", edited by Camille Peri and Kate Moses (Washington Square, $12.95 paperback). A collection of works by mothers who are writers in America, first published at Salon.com.
"Motherkind" by Jayne Anne Phillips (Vintage, $13 paperback). A new mother learns that her own mother has cancer, and invites her to move into her house in Boston.
"The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" (Riverhead, $12.95 paperback). The story of a Polish-Jewish immigrant who married a black man, raised 12 children in the projects of Brooklyn and put them all through college.
"Tell Me a Riddle" by Tillie Olsen (Delta, $12.95 paperback). This is a classic collection of three stories and a novella. "I Stand Here Ironing" uses ironing as a metaphor for a mother's attempts to come to terms with her daughter.
Mary Ann Gwinn can be reached at 206-464-2357 and mgwinn@seattletimes.com.