The book deals with the tumultuous relationship between a mother and daughter. It helps to show parents really were young once themselves.
The story begins when Elizabeth runs away from her family home on the eve of her 15th birthday following a heated agrument with her mother, Laura. In an attempt to keep calm until her daughter’s return, Laura decides to write “Liz” a letter telling her things she wishes they had already talked about. The letter is Laura’s way of telling her daughter “the truth about how a girl grows up.”
In the letter Laura tells of her own disagreements and strained relationship with her parents, especially her mother. The letter covers Laura’s life growing up in the early ‘70s.
Laura tells of meeting a boy named Tim that her parents disapproved of. She’s very candid about the events that lead her parents to enroll her in a strict Catholic boarding school.
Laura details the highs and extreme lows of her life at the school. She tells of her secret correspondence with Tim who enlists in the Army and is sent to Vietnam. Events of pain and guilt from her adolescences are shared in hopes Liz will see she (Laura) understands it’s tough being a teenager.
“Letter to My Daughter” is both touching and encouraging. It will have the reader considering their own relationship with their mother and/or daughter.
For readers who have a daughter, this book will inspire you to write your own letter just to set the record straight at some point in your daughter’s life. It’s also a handy book for teens to read to help them realize parents were once young and that they understand mistakes can be made.
From the first line of the letter until the salutation, the reader is transformed to a different era and a different way of thinking. The book reminds us times change, but the relationship between parent and child continues to be problematic.
The one thing that may surprise you the most about this book is that the author is a man. Author George Bishop gives a strong voice to Laura that never wavers in her material instinct to protect and love her child.
Letter to My Daughter * Ballantine Books * @2010 * ISBN: 978-0-345-51598-8 * Hardcover * 160 pages
FTC Full Disclosure - This book was sent to me by the publisher in hopes I would review it. However, receiving the complimentary copy did not influence my review.
