Book Description

Even as women reach for the wider opportunities open to them, they still find that giving birth and raising children are defining roles in their lives. In Mothers: A Celebration, Alexandra Stoddard reaches deep within herself for inspiring insights about the blessings and challenges of motherhood: how this life-changing event transforms, matures and pushes mothers to live more profoundly, wisely and mindfully than ever before.

Drawing on her own experience as the mother of two daughters, as the stepmother of an extensive brood and as a daughter who often challenged her own mother's expectations, Stoddard relates charming anecdotes, bittersweet moments and stirring memories that shed light on the universal triumphs and trials of being a mother. She suggests how to find balance within our many responsibilities, how to learn to play as spontaneously as children and how to trust our instincts as parents even as we must gradually let go.

In this thoughtful and affirming book-perfect for both reading and gift giving-Alexandra Stoddard honors the strength and contribution of mothers. Filled with Stoddard's noted down-to earth honesty and sparkling spirit, Mothers: A Celebration is a book every generation of women can treasure.

From Publishers Weekly

Stoddard's perspective on family is highly idealized: there are no teen pregnancies, no drug addiction, no abused or rebellious children, no delinquent child-support payments. Her milieu is affluent and so mannerly it's boring to read about. Interspersing quotations from Plato, Mother Teresa and the like, Stoddard recalls her occasionally difficult relations with her mother, praises her mother-in-law as an ideal mom and devotes considerable attention to her own self-attributed mothering skills, with two adult daughters supplying verifying testimony. In raising her children, Stoddard (Creating a Beautiful Home) learned to "flow into each situation with a loving heart," for mothers, she notes, are not charged with "making over" their children but with "letting their divine light shine through." The former New York decorator has a large following for her self-help and style books, so this one might also appeal to the tony set. Author tour.

Book Dimension

length: (cm)22.2 　　　 　　　　　 　　　　　 width:(cm)14.4