Julie Marie Wade discusses Other People's Mothers with Paul Griner

A nostalgic and poignant coming-of-age story told through one young woman's relationships with the mother figures in her life

Relationships between mothers and daughters can often be complicated and fraught. Even in the best of circumstances, many of us may have grown up curious about the mothers of our friends--looking to them, learning from them (for better or for worse), and wondering what it would be like to be a part of their families.

Other People's Mothers is a collection of interconnected, autobiographical essays that explore the relationship between a daughter, her mother, and the other mothers present in their lives. In this coming-of-age memoir, Julie Marie Wade traces a nexus of female influences on her formative years in the '80s and '90s. Through words and actions, the women around her communicate powerful and often contradictory messages about class, religion, education, and morality, holding enormous power over Wade's journey toward adulthood.

In expanding her exploration of motherhood and daughterhood to include these "other mothers," Wade takes a new and surprising kaleidoscopic approach to her portrayals of family life. This book reveals a young woman in the late twentieth century grappling with gendered expectations, beauty and body ideals, and complex messages about who she is permitted--or destined--to become.

Julie Marie Wade is the author of many collections of poetry and prose, including The Mary Years; Otherwise: Essays; and Just an Ordinary Woman Breathing. Wade is a winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Memoir and grants from the Kentucky Arts Council and the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund. She is professor of English and creative writing at Florida International University.

Paul Griner is the author of six books, most recently the novel The Book of Otto and Liam, longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal For Excellence in Fiction. He's currently working on turning his story Follow Me into with Jeff Keating, a producer of the award winning series Fight Night on Peacock, and Amel Guellaty, whose first feature film premiered at Sundance earlier this year. The film will begin shooting later this year.

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Host or Publisher Susan Norton