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NOT BECOMING MY MOTHER
By: Ruth Reichl
And Other Things She Taught Me Along the Way
Penguin Press
May 2009
On Sale: April 21, 2009
128 pages
ISBN: 1594202168
EAN: 9781594202162
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction Memoir
Bestselling author Ruth Reichl examines her motherβs life, giving voice to the universal unarticulated truth that we are grateful not to be our mothers In Not Becoming My Mother, bestselling author Ruth Reichl embarks on a clear-eyed, openhearted investigation of her motherβs life, piecing together the journey of a woman she comes to realize she never really knew. Looking to her motherβs letters and diaries, Reichl confronts the painful transition her mother made from a hopeful young woman to an increasingly unhappy older one and realizes the tremendous sacrifices she made to make sure her daughterβs life would not be as disappointing as her own. Growing up in Cleveland, Miriam Brudno dreamed of becoming a doctor, like her father. But when she announced this, her parents said, βYouβre no beauty, and itβs too bad youβre such an intellectual. But if you become a doctor, no man will ever marry you.β Instead, at twenty, Miriam opened a bookstore, a profession everyone agreed was suitably ladylike. She corresponded with authors all over the world, including philosophers such as Bertrand Russell, political figures such as Max Eastman, and novelists such as Christopher Marlowe. It was the happiest time of her life. Nearly thirty when she finally married, she fulfilled expectations, settled down, left her bookstore behind, and started a family. But conformity came at a tremendous cost. With labor-saving devices to aid in household chores, there was simply not enough to do to fill the days. Miriamβand most of her friendsβwere smart, educated women who were often bored, miserable, and silently rebellious. On what would have been Miriamβs one hundredth birthday Reichl opens up her motherβs diaries for the first time and encounters a whole new woman. This is a person she had never known. In this intimate study Reichl comes to understand the lessons of rebellion, independence, and self- acceptance that her motherβthough unable to guide herselfβ succeeded in teaching her daughter.
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