I loved this short book and give it five stars.

Thank goodness we are not our mothers, and thank goodness for them. Women’s potential has been marginalized for thousands of years, but our mothers were the first generation where there were more opportunities for them and they could entertain the idea of having a career, but it still wasn’t yet fully negotiable to do that and have a family as well. These mothers had the family and so did not realize their career dreams, but they did do something big after all.

They brought us up not to experience those impediments. Our generation has so many more opportunities, more flexibility, and less stigma attached to our choices than any prior generation. They were that cusp generation and they did that for us. This memoir is a moving portrait of one talented woman that married and became a mother instead of having the career she was clearly more cut out for.

Since my own wonderful mother’s potential was never fully realized either, and knowing she felt some frustration regarding that, I grew up not wanting to be my mother either. When I wanted to go to art school like she did, she strongly discouraged me; she didn’t want me to end up like her any more than I did.

This book is well written and thoughtfully done. I recommend it to women of my generation who wish to understand what their mothers did for them. It made me very grateful for my mother, and grateful for the progress of present day society. Also the hope this inspires for our own daughter’s bright landscape is encouraging. In at least one way, we are giving them an improved world.