For She Is the Tree of Life - Hardcover

Ed, Kack-Brice

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1567311938 ISBN 13: 9781567311938

Publisher: Fine Communications, 1997

Synopsis

Distinct roles are explored in depth, as the writers who have contributed to this anthology share revealing moments between granddaughters and grandmothers. Contributors include Isabelle Allende, Maya Angelou, Margaret Atwood, Ethel Barrymore, M.F.K. Fisher, Sharon Olds, Marge Piercy, and Leslie Silko, among others.

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

This engaging collection of short pieces of autobiography, fiction and poetry, some published previously, deals with the grandmother-granddaughter relationship. According to Kack-Brice, a California clinical social worker, memories of grandmothers, whether positive or negative, are a powerful connection to childhood, and the exploration of these reminiscences can lead to deeper self-knowledge. Many of the selections, including the poetry of Marge Piercy and Linda Hogan and memoirs by Ethel Barrymore and Maya Angelou, evoke grandmothers as figures of strength and inspiration. Other contributors, such as M.F.K. Fisher and Stephanie Patterson, describe more troubled relationships with their grandmothers. A touching selection by Jewelle Gomez recalls how her grandmother accepted her lesbianism. Exercises for the reader who wants to write about her own grandmother are provided by the contributors. Photos not seen by PW.
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From Booklist:

This is a collection of tender yet often tough and sharp poems and stories about grandmothers. The prose includes excerpts from novels (e.g., from Margaret Atwood's Bodily Harm and Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings) as well as a goodly selection of narrative memoirs. The poetry is accessible and direct, ranging from Toi Derricote's piercing reminiscence of her light-skinned grandmother's vulnerability to racism to Sharon Olds' searching eulogy for her dead grandmother on what would have been her birthday. This could have been a sappy assemblage of greeting-card sentiments, but editor Kack-Brice has done her work well. The love expressed by the writers here is unwavering, yet it is love based on clear-sighted knowledge. Patricia Monaghan

About this edition

• Publisher: Fine Communications
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 1567311938
• ISBN 13: 9781567311938
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 197