Article Contributed on: 4/18/2006 8:57:25 PM
Memorable moms... hmm. That could mean a mom we want to
remember or one we spend our lives trying to forget. Literature
gives us both. Here are few of my choices for memorable mom's in
fiction
First up, Bunty, of George and Bunty in Kate Atkinson's
Behind the Scenes at the Museum. Ruby, whom we meet at the moment
of conception, tells the tale of her life in middle class England
from 1951 to 1970. You won't forget Bunty, but you will be glad she
wasn't your mom. And, you won't forget Ruby whose character sees
the world with that subtle British wit and wry humor we have come
to love from our friends across the pond. Kate Atkinson has created
a family saga that gives us plenty of back-story with her clever
use of the much maligned footnote..
One True Thing, by Anna Quindlen, gives us another kind of
mother, in this story of a daughter who puts her own life on hold
to care for her mother in her battle with cancer. It takes us deep
into this relationship and this family as it reveals many true
things.
And finally, anything by Anne Tyler, who knows women and
families. In Ladder of Years, we meet the escaping mom, The Amateur
Marriage, gives us the"can't get it quite right" mom, and with
Breathing Lessons, we get to know the reflective mom. I love them
all and if my days had 48 hours, I could read them all again before
mother's day. What moms or mom books do you love?