Mother Daughter Me

A memoir, not glossed over, but honest reflections of Katie’s relationships with Mom, daughter, and sister. It’s not a feel good story, but introspective on how to process and forgive a childhood of neglect. How to move forward when life begins to turn around. I am in awe of her ability to look inward to process the many levels of hurt and longing. She tells her story intermingled with memories of the past and how they connected to the present. Well done, and I definitely recommend it to others.

I really enjoyed this memoir; it is honest even when honesty is difficult. I initially found myself wanting to judge the writer, her mother and her daughter. I was somewhat surprised by my very unfeminist reaction to these women, who were clearly doing their best to make their family work. The author’s willingness however, to open and then examine the emotional baggage from her childhood and the difficult relationship she continued to experience with her mother is courageous, and I soon found myself rooting for all three generations of women in this story. It is difficult being a mother yes, and somehow this story teaches that in many ways we still have a long way to go in our understanding of the multiple roles of women in our culture.

I’ve always enjoyed Katie Hafner’s writing. Now, for the first time in book form, she’s turned the spotlight on herself. This memoir proves once again how the most professional, successful talents can succeed through raw determination, grit and hard work….in spite of the often shocking handicaps they’re handed early in life.

Hafner describes a childhood that you’d wish on no one – a household torn apart by divorce, she and her sister subsequently stripped from an alcoholic mother, thrown into a trying Brady Bunch-style blended family. After years spent trying to reconcile her conflicted feelings about her mother, Hafner’s book details her attempts to bring her now aging, solitary Mom into her house in San Francisco. [Hafner’s Pro Tip: Mixture of a mom with no filter and a 16-year-old, hormone-fueled daughter is maybe not such a hot idea for the generation in the middle.]

I’m struck by how artfully this memoir is constructed: While most of us would have written it chronologically, it hops back and forth between present and past, each visit to the past clearing up and filling in the “whys” for the events happening in the here and now. Like, for instance, I pieced together early on that this still beautiful, talented woman has been married four times and wondered “how on earth??” As the story unfolds in her skillful hands, it suddenly seems like the most, understandable natural progression. Brilliantly done, Katie.

It is difficult to share the complicated relationship of my mother and myself and how it trickles down to my daughters. This book helps me to know that I am not alone with negative feelings and always wanting to please my mother. I sincerely tried to do my best as a daughter and feeling that I fell short. But my pastor reassured me that I was only responsible for 50% of that relationship and she was responsible for the other half; I tried to carry the complete load. It gave me reassurance that I am only human and that I tried my best.

Memoirs are my favorite and this one was definitely top of the list. It really helps that the author is a skilled writer. It doesn’t hurt that I am a mother (of 2 sons), a sister to one, and a daughter who has been through helping out my parents end of life. There were many things I could relate to and I plan to recommend it to my sister, who is also an avid reader.

Galaxyaudiobook Member Benefit

- Able to comment

- List watched audiobooks

- List favorite audiobooks

- Bookmark will only available for Galaxyaudiobook member