[.ca] Mothers and Daughters (ISBN 038548125X)

From Amazon.com:
Carol Saline and Sharon J. Wohlmuth once again explore the familial bonds of women in this charming follow-up to their 1994 smash hit Sisters. In words and pictures, Mothers and Daughters reveals the varied and perennial nature of this complicated family bond. Most of the daughters in this collection are adult women. Some are stepchildren, others adopted from other nations, and still others, including model Cindy Crawford, author Margaret Atwood, and cartoonist Cathy Guisewite, are famous. Wohlmuth's posed, black-and-white photos of the two generations reveal relationships that rival the intensity of romance. In these pictures, some mothers curl protectively around their daughters, some of the women stand side-by-side, embracing like old friends, and occasionally the subjects stand apart from one another, like partners in a difficult marriage. Saline's interviews probe delicately beneath the surface of the portraits. "Do you love your mother, Jacki?" Saline asks one subject, who answers, "without question." But when Saline asks, "Do you like your mother?" Jacki replies more ambiguously: "Well...." This book will inspire mothers and daughters to reflect on the importance of their own relationship. --Maria Dolan

This book is a tribute to all mothers and daughters:
This book is special to me because my Great Grandmother and her daughters (as well as my grandmother who raised me) are in the book. My "Granny" will be 100 years old in 1999 and has been an inspiration to us all. I've often thought her story should be told and while this is a very short version among many I was pleased with the gentle way they captured her essence.

Occasionally Uplifting, Often Contentious:
I purchased this book as a holiday gift for my child's teacher. She has a close but intense relationship with her mother, and I thought she would enjoy the topic. Now, I have my fingers crossed and am holding my breath a bit. The black and white photography is beautifully compelling. At times, it is excruciatingly sad (for example, the photo of a woman who has lost her daughter to a drunk driver sits alone in her child's room, another of a daughter hugging her mom's gravestone.) The accompanying short profiles/ stories are tersely, crisply written. They can be truly uplifting, like one very personal tale, which recounts a woman's battle with breast cancer and how she later overcomes her shame in her daughters seeing her post-surgery breasts. Another tale tells of a daughter who has cared for her ailing mother at home for decades, changing diapers and preparing pureed food. Virtually all of the relationships, however, reveal palpable strains of deep-seated anger, regret or misunderstanding. Many of the women have suffered intensely; many have healed from their own bad marriages and divorces. For a young woman like myself who now has a small daughter and who recently lost a mother, the book was absorbing though it strangely lacked hope. My favorite profile was of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg; she seems like a type A mom but happy with her family and the personal and career choices she has made. Her daughter teases her mother, but seems secretly grateful for the upbringing she received. You sense that they appreciate each other, despite differences. If you are considering this book for a friend, it would probably be most appreciated by someone who has survived many ups and downs with her mom. Those mother and daughter pairs who pal around together and who consider themselves good friends may be strangely put off by the tragedy and simmering warfare in between many of the pictures.