Lessons From My Mothers Life book review

Author Tam May discussed her purpose and the updating process for her work here.

Lessons From My Mother's Life
Tam May

Historical Fiction, short Story Collection
$9.99  Print, 190 pp
$0.99  Ebook
Buy here:Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple iBooks, Kobo

       About the Book:

It was the 1950s. The war was over and women could go back to being happy housewives. But did they really want to?

Women in the 1950s should have been contented to live a Leave it to Beaver life. They had it all: generous husbands with great jobs, comfortable suburban homes with nice yards, two cars, and communities with like-minded families. Their days were filled with raising well-behaved children, cleaning the house, baking cookies, and attending PTA meetings and church events.

They should have been fulfilled. Women's magazines told them so. Advertisers told them so. Doctors and psychologists told them so. Some were. But some weren't.

In the 1950s, women were sold a bill of goods about who they were and who they should be as women. Some bought it. But some didn't.

These stories are about the women who didn't. They didn't buy that there wasn't more to life than making a happy home. Except they didn't know they weren't buying until something forced them see the cracks in their seemingly perfect lives.

A teenage bride sees her future mirrored in Circe's twisted face. A woman's tragic life serves as a warning about the dangers of too much maternal devotion. And the lives of two women intersect during two birthday parties, changing both of them. These and other moving tales of strength, discovery, and hope are about our mothers and grandmothers and the lessons their lives have to teach us.

My review:

Tam May’s reimagined and repurposed collection of short historical fiction strikes a cord with readers who experienced the result of that tumultuous time. After WWII, when women were needed, they suddenly found themselves demoted to decorations as the world hit a technological boom that took their dignity. In an era that bolstered men returning from the warfront to resettle into a new world of exciting careers in science, technology, sales, and service, their wives were expected to maintain a certain decorum of support. Those who sought independence were deemed unfeminine; an unfortunate label other women were encouraged to assign.

I agree with other reviewers who call these stories somewhat bleak. But each of the challenges is worthy of thought and discussion, and still disturbingly relevant. Each of the women in the five stories struggles to refrain from becoming “Mrs. John Smith,” even if they don’t understand what that means. In “Fumbling Toward Freedom,” for instance, our young bride-to-be refuses to register for gifts because she “wanted those things [towels and dishes] to be of her taste rather than the taste of others.” It’s a subtle, perhaps unconscious desire to control her surroundings that battles out through the tale. In other stories, a young woman sacrifices herself as an early teen to become the mother/homemaker while her own mother wallows in pity. It becomes a role she can’t escape from, a role that consumes her and overwhelms her ability to find joy and understand love. In perhaps the oddly happiest of the stories, “Soul Destinations” is a noir train journey of strangers fighting their demons and finding peace and comfort in each other’s presence. An engagement party goes terribly right in “Devoted,” when Rachel’s aunt sheds light on a touchy subject, and it’s not the one we think, as everyone learns some truth behind what it means to love and be loved. The final story, “Two Sides of Life,” was unsettling. Empty nesters try to fill in their lives their own muddied way; Calvin by trying to fix something he doesn’t understand, and Leanne by struggling up the slippery slope of a tilted foundation. She’s been the glue, the firm cornerstone, and the rock everyone’s relied on for years, and when she is ready to remodel, her husband fearfully attempts to push her back in place. Dual birthday celebrations help Leanne realize some ugly and brave truths about herself, giving her a better footing for the future.

These are not all easy or joyous stories, but skillfully told and well set in time and place. Good for those who enjoy thoughtful prose that begs serious contemplation.