Mothers inspire our most passionate reactions?our most bitter resentments, our strongest sympathy and our fiercest loyalty. This is why most writers feel compelled to examine the mother/child relationship at some point. They're understandably, irresistibly drawn to the natural drama of the connection. In the excellent new Mothers & Daughters, An Anthology, noted editor Alberto Manguel has collected 20 short stories. In the irritating introduction, Manguel affects a humble, awe-struck tone, almost apologizing for daring, as a man, to edit a collection about women's relationships. But while his introduction comes off as insincere, Manguel has succeeded in gathering a provocative group of stories. The two best stories are by well-known writers. In the hilarious "Lolita," Dorothy Parker describes with characteristically cruel precision a vivacious widow's envy of her shy and homely daughter's successful marriage to a rich and handsome man. "Her Mother's Daughter," by William Trevor, also concerns a widow and her daughter. This depressing story, which poignantly describes a girl's lonely upbringing in a dismal house with her distant mother, demonstrates why many consider Trevor the English language's best living short story writer. What makes the collection most valuable is Manguel's inclusion of stories by unfamiliar writers. "Rachel and Her Children," by American author Frances Newman, and "A Mother in India," by Canadian Sara Jeannete Duncan, are superb stories centering on mothers who simply don't like their daughters. Manguel also includes a touching story by Argentinean author Lillian Heker called "The Stolen Party," about a maid's daughter who is invited to a rich family's party, only to discover that she was invited to work. Reminiscent of Katherine Mansfield, the story is better than the actual Mansfield selection, "The Young Girl," which is uncharacteristically clumsy. The only real dud in the collection is the unintelligible "Green Earth Mother" by Chinese dissident Ai Bei. Bear in mind that Mothers & Daughters is not suggested as a present for one's mother, lest she think she's being compared to any of these mostly unflattering portraits of motherhood. --Elizabeth Colie |
