naturally, some of these hit harder than others. i felt a deep kinship with everyone writing about how they desperately wished to know their mother more- the depth of her life before becoming a mother, her dreams and aspirations, the other paths she chose not to wander down. reading this both soothed and exacerbated the ache inside of me. ( )

This book started off as 5 stars all the way, but unfortunately I feel like the editor organized it from the best essay to the worst. However, despite that, I really liked that this book focused on a much under-scrutinized relationship. There are some renowned authors here, and I think they do a great job of conveying the tension between maternal love and the many mistakes that mothers make.

As a mother myself, I often wonder about the mistakes I have made and whether my children will forgive them. I wonder that because my own relationship with my mother was not smooth and has lead to a strained relationship even to this day. This book made me feel more forgiving and also made me hope I will be forgiven.

I would love to see an equivalent book "What My Child and I Don't Talk About" from the mothers' perspective.

( )

I will admit both the title and the concept of this book intrigued me. As a grown woman who still wonders about the relationship with her own mother and where exactly it went wrong, it was an interesting find. Unfortunately, not all but I was left with nothing more than petty, and sometimes annoying revelations. ( )

These stories of Mothers were beautifully written, dark, heartbreaking, and hopeful. ( )

I appreciated this book's honesty, but wasn't wowed by it. ( )

FYI Review, this anthology contains the following essays:
-What My Mother and I Don't Talk About by Michele Filgate
-My Mother's (Gate)Keeper by Cathi Hanauer
-Thesmophoria by Melissa Febos
-Xanadu by Alexander Chee
-16 Minetta Lane by Dylan Landis
-Fifteen by Bernice L. McFadden
-Nothing Left Unsaid by Julianna Baggott
-The Same Story About My Mom by Lynn Steger Strong
-While These Things / Feel American to Me by Klese Laymon
-Mother Tongue by Carmen Maria Machado
-Are You Listing? by Andre Acimen
-Brother, Can You Spare Some Change? by Sari Botton
-Her Body / My Body by Naomi Munaweera
-All About My Mother by Brandon Taylor
-I Met Fear on the Hill by Leslie Jamison