Friends for Life: Enriching the Bond Between Mothers and Their Adult Daughters

by Susan Jonas, Marilyn Nissenson

The mother–daughter relationship is one of the most rewarding––and baffling––relationship a woman may ever have. Books abound on the parenting of children, but little has been published on mothers' connections with their grown daughters. That complex maternal relationship is explored here, in Friends for Life, a much–needed resource written by mothers for mothers. Drawing on the guidance of psychology professionals, New York moms Susan Jonas and Marilyn Nissenson interviewed over one hundred other women, asking them about their role as mothers, about their communication with their daughters, about their own needs, and about issues of independence and support. The result is a wonderfully rich, intensely personal, and nonjudgmental study of mother–daughter relations, one that reveals ways for mothers to build lifelong friendships with their daughters.

Genres: Nonfiction

384 pages, Paperback

First published May 5, 1997

Reviews

[Tania Dunkley]

I came across this book by chance but it opened the door for me to begin mending fences with my mother in our strained relationship. I read it first then gave it to her to read. I know it helped us get past a lot of our old issues and allowed me to have 2 great years of open communication before she passed. I plan on reading it again now that I have a daughter, so I'm glad I was able to retrieve it from my mom's stuff.

[Jo Donoghue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely thorough in reviews of mothers and daughters to reference this book. Learned a lot about this type of relationship. Very advanced for their times the two authors/mothers were. TKS for all the in-site you brought to the surface. Nice information to carry on with. Our relationship my daughter and myself is continually growing with new discovery of ourselves and what is possible for joy in our bond and what is destructive. Nice to be educated on the matter as no one hands you a book on parenting when you become a mother. Nice read ladies and thanks for all you did to bring this into circulation. Much obliged. 73 year old mother and 35 year old daughter from NH still trying to grow into our authentic selves to bring a better understanding of each others desires and needs into our partnership. Amen.

[Kate Hornstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dated and pretty much geared to upper middle class mothers (many examples come from the writers' friends). Still, some good timeless points.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would recommend this to anyone with a mother. I thought it was insightful and helpful in understanding mothers, mine and others. Particulary interesting if you also are raising a daughter. Really enjoyed it!