How happy was the 1950s happy housewife?
Women in post-war America were supposed to have it all: generous husbands with great jobs, comfortable suburban homes with nice yards and two-car garages, and all the latest gadgets to make their housework easier.
The pain and horror of World War II were over. The economy was booming and America was becoming a world leader. American women were to play a role in America's prosperity, the role they were always meant to play: supporting mothers, wives, and daughters. Theirs was a life of ease. They were the fairytale princesses with the happy ending.
The women's magazines told them so. The advertisements for laundry detergent and TV dinners told them so. The doctors who treated their children's colds told them so.
Women in 1950s America were sold a bill of goods about their purpose in life and their futures. Some bought it and some didn't.
This book is about the women who didn't.
These are not nostalgic stories about my mother's life or your mother's life. They dig deep into the lives of five fictional characters who knew in the back of their minds that their lives weren't happy and they wanted something more.
In Fumbling Toward Freedom, Susan reconsiders her plans for an early marriage after visiting an art exhibit one Saturday afternoon.
Mother of Mischief tells of Mary, cast in a maternal role since childhood, who discovers her true worth after a tragic episode in her loveless marriage brings her past to light.
The story Soul Destinations is about Joan's encounter with a has-been musician on a train which launches her soul's journey.
In Devoted, Rachel's Aunt Amelia teaches her about the consequences of losing her identity when a woman takes her role as caretaker too seriously.
And, finally, there is Two Sides of Life, a story based on a true incident in the author's mother's life. Leanne's unexpected bond with the wife of her husband's lab assistant shows her the true meaning of life just at the dawn of the women's movement.
Five stories. Five women. Five roads that will lead to self-identity and fulfillment.
These are not true stories about my mother. But they could be. They could be stories about your mother or your grandmother or even your great-grandmother. They are stories about the women many of us know.
Purchase
Lessons From My Mother's Life
today and walk in the shoes of five American women struggling with what Betty Friedan called "The Problem That Has No Name."
What reviewers are saying:
"Smart, interesting and down-to-earth, these are stories that are close to the heart of every woman either because they lived through something similar, or because, as the title says, our mothers did."
"Great short stories that really do speak to what women had to face mid 20th century."
"I know my mother absolutely could have personally dealt with some of the experiences described in the book!"
This book also includes an Author's Note and a bonus chapter from
The Specter, the first book of the author's Gilded Age saga, the Waxwood Series.