Don’t Call Me Mother: Breaking the Chain of Mother-Daughter Abandonment

Linda Joy Myers tells a compelling life story written as a series of vignettes that reveal a multi-generational pattern of abandonment and eventual healing. Myers, a marriage and family therapist, wrote in the voice of the first person speaking in the present tense.

As you decide which voice and tense to use, consult this book to understand the dramatic impact on the reader of this combination. From the author’s perspective, Myers says the choice “forced me to integrate the self that I was with the witness I have become.”

You’ll also notice the importance of trains in her life, representing separations and reunions, new ventures and returning home. Is there some thread that has run through your life that could be woven into your memoir?

Myers, also an artist, creates vitality and vividness in the people and places she shares with us through the use of color descriptors. What passions do you have — gardening, sports, cooking, art, music — that might enhance the telling of your story?

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