Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for giving me an e-book copy of this novel for a review.

I remember watching Terms of Endearment, the film adaptation of Larry McMurtry’s novel, in the 1980s every time it came on cable, identifying with Emma’s longing to escape her my mother’s insistences, too young to understand that the conflicts between she and her mother would always leave Emma missing her mother when she was miles and states away, the cords of their landline phones a tether.The story presents us with a poetic reminder of how narrow traditional roles for women were – even if at first glance it might appear there was space for self-defined manoeuvre. I enjoyed seeing Willow and Martha come together as sisters, and then become accepting of their mother’s decisions. I can’t say I was surprised by any of the outcomes but although I usually demand a little more intrigue I was happy to sit back and indulge in a very readable and engaging story. Here, the authors discuss the roles of mother and daughter, and how they have changed and continue to grow, and present the stories of women from all walks of life, and from different age groups, to illustrate what being a mother, and being a daughter, really means to women in their everyday lives. As Lucy Barton recovers from an operation, her mother, to whom she hasn’t spoken for many years, comes to see her.

One year, I gave my mother Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club in hopes that the novel would speak for me, say what I couldn’t say— I could understand you better if I knew you more, if I knew what you went through, before me. On reflection, I think it is quite interesting that an older character in the story connected with me the most. Chew-Bose describes her “beautiful mother” growing out her gray, wearing a rotation of t-shirts when she’s cooking, doing things in time—”wonderfully exonerative time—peel[ing] two clementines and [making] a cup of tea before unpacking her groceries,” and being nourished by “replenishing ease.The author also convincingly captured the range of emotions and tensions which can arise when a widowed parent begins a new relationship, only to find their happiness threatened by disapproval from adult offspring.

It sends some significant messages to readers about acceptance of life choices and I appreciate this moral message that James is trying to convey.It is disturbing to handle stuff that parents can’t or won’t, to root around in the waste products of parental dysfunction. She and Tom are trying for a baby but things are not going as Martha planned and this is causing a little stress for her.