At the age of four, a little girl stands on a cold, windy railroad platform in Wichita, Kansas to watch the train take her mother away. For the rest of her life, her mother will be only an occasional and troubled visitor. Linda Joy Myers's compassionate, gripping, and soul-searching memoir tells the story of three generations of daughters who long for their absent mothers, yet unwittingly recreate a pattern that she was determined to break. Accompany Linda as she uncovers family secrets, finds solace in music, and begins her healing journey. Learn how she transcends the prison of childhood to discover light in the darkness of strife, abuse, and undiagnosed mental illness. Don't Call Me Mother was originally published in 2005. This revised edition includes a new introduction and afterword, with new insights about memoir writing. It's an inspiring chronicle of perseverance, healing, and the transformative power of forgiveness.
Industry Reviews
"Myers takes you to her most sustaining love-the prairie land of the Midwest-and concludes her story as a return to that place where forgiveness becomes 'a feather on my heart, as natural as the plains wind.'"
-Shirley Showalter, former president of Goshen College, author of the blog I Have a Story
"Don't Call Me Mother takes us deep inside the mind of a young girl who has been spurned by that most important person in her life: her own mother. Without a guide to help her develop into a woman, Myers is forced into a vulnerable, innovative search for dignity and survival that is at the heart of every hero's tale."
-Jerry Waxler, M.S., founder of the Memory Writers Network, author of Four Elements for Writers and Learn to Write your Memoir
"Myers is courageous and persevering in this story about the primal pain of mother abandonment."
-Tristine Rainer, author of Your Life as Story: Discovering the New Autobiography and director of the Center for Autobiographic Studies
"With poetically visceral prose, Linda Joy Myers tells of her relentless work to emerge from an abandoned and abused child to a forgiving and loving daughter, mother, and grandmother. This must-read memoir brings her raw dark secrets to life. I couldn't tear myself away."
-Madeline Sharples, author of Leaving the Hall Light On
"Linda Joy Myers eloquently renders the details of her past in this transformative memoir, allowing all of us to find redemption through her honest courage. For anyone yearning for self-discovery, Don't Call Me Mother serves as a compelling guide on a journey to wholeness. I loved the book."
-Michele Weldon, assistant professor, Northwestern University and author of I Closed My Eyes and Writing to Save Your Life
"The new afterword pulls back the veil and lays bare the actual healing power of memoir. Poignant, visceral, and triumphant, this new section left me shaken and stunned with its raw beauty. As a reader, I felt I was witnessing transformation."
-Kathleen Adams LPC, Author, Journal to the Self and Scribing the Soul Director, Center for Journal Therapy and Therapeutic Writing Institute
