Mom-oirs

Arundhati Roy’s first work of memoir, this is a soaring account, both intimate and inspiring, of how the author became the person and the writer she is, shaped by circumstance, but above all by her relationship to her extraordinary, singular mother Mary, who she describes as ‘my shelter and my storm’.   Distraught and even a “little ashamed” at the intensity of her response to the death of the mother she ran from at age eighteen, Arundhati began to write Mother Mary Comes to Me.  The result is this astonishing, disconcerting, surprisingly funny chronicle—unique and simultaneously universal, of the author’s life, from childhood to the present, from Kerala to Delhi.   With the scale, sweep, and depth of her novels and the passion, political clarity, and warmth of her essays, Mother Mary Comes to Me is an ode to freedom, a tribute to thorny love and savage grace—a memoir like no other.

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In her first-ever memoir, Knowles presents a celebration of feminism, identity and pursuing your dreams.To understand the icons Beyonce, Solange and Kelly, you have to understand where they came from... A deeply personal and revelatory memoir by Ms Tina Knowles - as you've never seen her before.Tina Knowles, the mother of icons Beyonce Knowles-Carter, Solange Knowles and bonus daughter Kelly Rowland, is known the world over as a Matriarch with a capital M: the woman who raised and inspired some of the great artists of our time. But this story is about so much more than that.For the first time ever, Tina Knowles shares her remarkable story in Matriarch. A life of grief and tragedy, love and heartbreak, the nurturing of her superstar daughters - and the perseverance and audacity it takes for a girl from Galveston, Texas to change the world.This intimate and revealing memoir is a multigenerational family saga and a celebration of the wisdom that women, mothers and daughters pass on to each other across generations.A glorious chronicle of a life like none other and a testament to the world-changing power of Black motherhood.

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Ek het die land leer ken, my lewe bedryf nie beter of slegter as ander nie. Die oes was nie ryker of skraler as dié van ander nie, maar dit was vol goeie are. Tog het ek geweet dat ek kom doodgaan langs die Valschrivier. Ek het dit kom soek soos die olifante.   Digter Antjie Krog keer terug na die landskap van haar kindertyd. Die Vrystaatse vlaktes bekoor haar – dit is haar tuiste; ook die tuiste van haar ma, die skrywer Dot Serfontein. Dot is by die negentig. Sy is verswak en moet voltyds versorg word, maar haar intellek en humorsin is vlymskerp en haar skrywerskap vergelykbaar met die van haar dogter.   In Binnerym van bloed  breek Antjie Krog die grense tussen genres af en skryf sy oor hierdie verhouding wat haar bly fassineer en kasty. Sy gebruik briewe, dagboekinskrywings en versorgingsverslae om verrykende benaderings tot kreatiwiteit, ideologie en die waarheid van oud word bloot te lê.   Krog spoel die onoorkombare verskille tussen geslagte oop, maar wys ook die liefde en wedersydse bewondering tussen twee hoogs bekwame skrywers. Pragtig en indringend geskryf, delf Die binnerym van bloed in kulturele erfgoed, die land se Anglo-Boereoorlogverlede, kwessies van grondbesit en ras, ook romantiese verhoudings oor rasgrense heen.   Hierdie verhaal oor die verhouding tussen ’n ma en ’n dogter is Krog se mees persoonlike, ook haar mees universele.

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’n Baie lang brief aan my dogter is Marita van der Vyver, een van Afrikaans se mees geliefde skrywers, se ontroerende jeugmemoir. Hierin vertel ’n Afrikaanse ma vir haar Franse dogter van haar grootwordjare in die sestigs en sewentigs, in die bloeityd van apartheid. Maar is dit ook ’n storie oor taal en boeke en die wonderwerk van woorde. En hoe dit gekom het dat ’n skaam boekwurm uit ’n Afrikaanse middelklasfamilie, wat slegs ’n geslag vroeër nog werkersklas was, ’n skrywer geword het. Dis ’n boek wat die meeste mense nie sal kan neersit nie omdat dit ’n speurtog is deur ’n skrywer se beginjare en ’n liefdesbrief is aan ’n dogter en aan ’n taal en aan ’n land. En ’n ma se poging om sin te maak van hierdie onverskillige en wrede wêreld waarin sy haar nou begewe.

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A collection of wisdom and life lessons, from the beloved and bestselling author of I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS 'A brilliant writer, a fierce friend and a truly phenomenal woman' BARACK OBAMADedicated to the daughter she never had but sees all around her, Letter to my Daughter reveals Maya Angelou's path to living well and living a life with meaning. Told in her own inimitable style, this book transcends genres and categories: it's part guidebook, part memoir, part poetry - and pure delight. 'She moved through the world with unshakeable calm, confidence and a fierce grace . . . She will always be the rainbow in my clouds' OPRAH WINFREY 'She was important in so many ways. She launched African American women writing in the United States. She was generous to a fault. She had nineteen talents - used ten. And was a real original. There is no duplicate' TONI MORRISON

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‘This book kept me alive.’ Love and Fury is the compelling and intimate account of the life, loves and furies of Margie Orford. In this brave memoir, the renowned South African crime writer divulges some of the harrowing experiences that have shaped her life and influenced her writing. Through sexual assault, divorce, depression and personal loss, Orford illuminates the trauma she has navigated. Tender and courageous chapters vividly recall memories of what she has been through as a woman, mother, wife, feminist and ambitious writer. Love and Fury shows why trauma in our past can have such an enduring and debilitating effect on women’s lives. It also unpacks the healing power of love, creativity, courage and self-reflection, ultimately offering a profound message of hope and joy for any woman who has ever questioned themselves, their trauma and who they are in the world. This book is every woman’s love and fury.

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‘A beautiful, intimate and hunger-inducing portrait of grief, race, heritage and coming to know yourself through what you eat.’ - Stylist ‘Books of the Year’'As good as everyone says it is and, yes, it will have you in tears. An essential read for anybody who has lost a loved one, as well as those who haven't' – Marie–ClaireThe New York Times bestseller from the Grammy-nominated indie rockstar Japanese Breakfast, an unflinching, deeply moving memoir about growing up mixed-race, Korean food, losing her Korean mother, and forging her own identity in the wake of her loss.In this exquisite story of family, food, grief, and endurance, Michelle Zauner proves herself far more than a dazzling singer, songwriter, and guitarist. With humour and heart, she tells of growing up the only Asian-American kid at her school in Eugene, Oregon; of struggling with her mother’s particular, high expectations of her; of a painful adolescence; of treasured months spent in her grandmother’s tiny apartment in Seoul, where she and her mother would bond, late at night, over heaping plates of food. As she grew up, moving to the east coast for college, finding work in the restaurant industry, performing gigs with her fledgling band – and meeting the man who would become her husband – her Koreanness began to feel ever more distant, even as she found the life she wanted to live.It was her mother’s diagnosis of terminal pancreatic cancer, when Michelle was twenty-five, that forced a reckoning with her identity and brought her to reclaim the gifts of taste, language, and history her mother had given her.Vivacious, lyrical and honest, Michelle Zauner’s voice is as radiantly alive on the page as it is onstage. Rich with intimate anecdotes that will resonate widely, Crying in H Mart is a book to cherish, share, and reread.‘Possibly the best book I’ve read all year . . . I will be buying copies for friends and family this Christmas.’ – Rukmini Iyer in the Guardian ‘Best Food Books of 2021’‘Wonderful . . . The writing about Korean food is gorgeous . . . but as a brilliant kimchi-related metaphor shows, Zauner’s deepest concern is the ferment, and delicacy, of complicated lives.’ – Victoria Segal, Sunday Times, ‘My favourite read of the year’

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For decades, Amy ran. Through the dirt roads of Amarillo, Texas, where she grew up; to the streets of New York, where she built her adult life; through marriage, motherhood, and a thriving career. To outsiders, it all looked, in many ways, perfect. But Amy was running from something – a secret she was keeping not only from her family and friends, but unconsciously from something terrible in her past.   When her ten-year-old daughter confronts her on the distance between them, Amy is propelled to confront what she has spent a lifetime trying to escape. So begins Amy’s journey through the world of MDMA-assisted psychedelic therapy, to the limits of the judicial system, and ultimately, home to Texas, where her story began.   In her relentless search for the truth, Griffin scrutinises the pursuit of perfectionism, control, and maintaining appearances that drives so many women. She asks the question: When, in our path from girlhood to womanhood, did we learn to look outside ourselves for validation? And what kind of freedom is possible if we better protect girls from being taken advantage of on this journey.   Heartbreaking, powerful and raw, The Tell points a way forward for all of us, shedding light on the courage and power of truth-telling that’s required to move through trauma.

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What's your journey of becoming? Based on Michelle Obama's bestselling memoir, this gorgeous journal contains more than 150 inspiring questions and quotes to help you discover your story. 'It's not about being perfect. It's not about where you get yourself in the end. There's power in allowing yourself to be known and heard, in owning your unique story, in using your authentic voice.' Michelle ObamaIn Becoming, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama shared her extraordinary journey, creating space for others to tell theirs. Now with Becoming: A Guided Journal for Discovering Your Voice, she helps you find your story with: · Thought-provoking prompts to help reflect on your history· Fun activities to outline your goals, challenges and dreams· Enlightening questions to understand what motivates and brings hope These pages will help you capture your voice so you can nurture your sense of becoming. Becoming creative. Becoming brave. Becoming you. "I hope you'll use this journal to write down your experiences, thoughts, and feelings, in all their imperfections, and without judgment . . . We don't have to remember everything. But everything we remember has value."

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Louisa Zondo’s work has helped to shape the new South Africa, but she has also faced intense grief and trauma, which came from the underside of the emerging nation’s complex social fabric. As mother of much-loved music star Riky Rick, who tragically took his own life in 2022, Louisa Zondo’s loss was shared by millions, but it was also a uniquely deep, lonely and life-shattering grief. The loss of her beloved MaRiky also brought to the surface cataclysmic trauma from her past. As Louisa Zondo takes her first small steps to facing her grief, she finds herself speaking to her son in a series of letters, gradually finding the words to express her love for him, and the pain of losing him. In expressing that love, she tells the story of her own life and the experiences that shaped her. This brave journey brings Louisa to a deeper understanding of her life’s path, and closer to healing.

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A heartbreaking and hilarious memoir by iCarly and Sam & Cat star Jennette McCurdy about her struggles as a former child actor—including eating disorders, addiction, and a complicated relationship with her overbearing mother—and how she retook control of her life. Jennette McCurdy was six years old when she had her first acting audition. Her mother’s dream was for her only daughter to become a star, and Jennette would do anything to make her mother happy. So she went along with what Mom called “calorie restriction,” eating little and weighing herself five times a day. She endured extensive at-home makeovers while Mom chided, “Your eyelashes are invisible, okay? You think Dakota Fanning doesn’t tint hers?” She was even showered by Mom until age sixteen while sharing her diaries, email, and all her income. In I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette recounts all this in unflinching detail—just as she chronicles what happens when the dream finally comes true. Cast in a new Nickelodeon series called iCarly, she is thrust into fame. Though Mom is ecstatic, emailing fan club moderators and getting on a first-name basis with the paparazzi (“Hi Gale!”), Jennette is riddled with anxiety, shame, and self-loathing, which manifest into eating disorders, addiction, and a series of unhealthy relationships. These issues only get worse when, soon after taking the lead in the iCarly spinoff Sam & Cat alongside Ariana Grande, her mother dies of cancer. Finally, after discovering therapy and quitting acting, Jennette embarks on recovery and decides for the first time in her life what she really wants. Told with refreshing candor and dark humor, I’m Glad My Mom Died is an inspiring story of resilience, independence, and the joy of shampooing your own hair.

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