The Autobiography of My Mother

by Rosellen Brown

Gerda Stein is a brilliant, successful civil liberties lawyer in New York, a champion of the oppressed, an exacting, rational woman who never repeats her mistakes. But she can't erase her prodigal daughter, Renata, who has returned after an eight year abscence, unwed, with a child in tow , hoping to make peace.

Renata is aimless, sensual, irrational, yet she too has principles, as fleshy and real as her mother's are physical and abstract. As a mother and daughter warily circle each other, looking for what neither can give, the child stands between them, a second chance - and for each, the ultimate revenge.

Genres: Novels

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Rosellen Brown (born May 12, 1939) is an American author, and has been an instructor of English and creative writing at several universities, including the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Houston. She has won several grants and awards for her work. The 1996 film Before and After was adapted from her novel of the same name.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Alex Licht · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thrifted this randomly and loved it! It’s one of those books that other people probably dismiss for “not a lot happening,” but that’s what I love about literary fiction like this: analyzing the characters and diving into their brains is more than enough of an experience to “happen” to the reader. I tore right through it.

[Nathan "N.R." Gaddis]

So far as I can see, none of my Friends have read Rosellen Brown. She is interviewed by Tom LeClair in ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN: Interviews with Contemporary American Novelists, 1983. An interest by LeClair is no small thing. Perhaps someone will take up the cause of her books, make a decision about them. Forgottenness is not irremediable.

[Nancy Mcdaniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I had read this first, I might have rated it higher. But after reading 3 or 4 other later books by Rosellen Brown, I liked it less. I kept putting it down, which I didn't with the others. It was still good, but I just didn't LOVE it.