This book is about mother-daughter relationship. Being a new mother myself, I had mixed feelings reading this book. The characters are believable, so the story acted as a mirror.
Marta is a stubborn, go-getter, who's had a hard life. She had a mother who was loving, yet weak, and who "over-protected" her sister Elise to the point of making her an incapable of surviving. She did not want to make the same mistake with her own children, so when her first daughter Hildermara turned out to be delicate, she was afraid that Hildie would have the same fate as Elise. She pushed so hard (out of love), Hildie thought she hated her. Hildie also has a stubborn streak in her. She is by no means weak, but her ways are different than Marta's.

The main reason for their broken relationship is the lack of openness and acceptance of who they really are. If they just learned what the other person values, fears, and dreams of, there could be healing. An example of healing is in the relationship between Hildie's brother Bernard and his wife Elizabeth (when they actually opened up, they were reconciled).

I pray that as a mother I can respect my daughter as a person, and help her bloom into the woman God intends her to be. She may be different than me (or too similar, which can also be challenging), but she is not me.

Other books that may be helpful on the subject:
- The Naming of Persons, by Paul Tournier (respecting the child as a person God created, not as an extension of yourself)
- Child Sense, by Priscilla Dunston (understanding your child's primary way of processing the world)