Shadow Daughter

A Memoir of Estrangement

De: Harriet Brown

Narrado por: Harriet Brown

A riveting, provocative, and ultimately hopeful exploration of mother-daughter estrangement, woven with research and anecdotes, from an award-winning journalist.

The day of her mother's funeral, Harriet Brown was five thousand miles away. For years they'd gone through cycles of estrangement and connection, drastic blow-ups and equally dramatic reconciliations. By the time her mother died at seventy-six, they hadn't spoken at all in several years. Her mother's death sent Brown on a journey of exploration, one that considered guilt and trauma, rage and betrayal, and forgiveness.

Shadow Daughter tackles a subject we rarely discuss as a culture. Family estrangements -- between parents and children, siblings, multiple generations -- are surprisingly common, and even families that aren't officially estranged often have some experience of deep conflicts. Despite the fact that the issue touches most people one way or another, estrangement is still shrouded in secrecy, stigma, and shame. We simply don't talk about it, and that silence can make an already difficult situation even harder. Brown tells her story with clear-eyed honesty and hard-won wisdom; she also shared interviews with others who are estranged, as well as the most recent research on this taboo topic.

Ultimately, Shadow Daughter is a thoughtful, provocative, and deeply researched exploration of the ties that bind and break, forgiveness, reconciliation, and what family really means.

Beautifully put book

This felt like a warm cup of coffee for my soul, being estranged from my entire family has been so painful and hard to process. This has helped me, at the very least, feel less alone

Variety of Experiences

While this book didn’t fully hit for me, there was an obvious effort by the author to encapsulate a variety of experiences. I appreciated the efforts to depict resolutions outside of reconciliation.

A particularly memorable line:
“She (the mother) wanted me to deny myself before I even knew who I was.”

Mother to estranged daughter.

As the mother of an estranged daughter this book gave me a lot of insight into how to proceed, or not, in attempts to reconcile. I think we need a time apart to grow.

A Worthy Read!

A Worthy Read especially if any Estrangement in your family. Gave me a lot of comfort & understanding of family estrangement.

Extraordinary book about dealing with a mean parent

This is the first book I’ve ever read that made me feel like someone understands what I’ve gone through with my own parents and sister. What a relief to hear about others who have had to deal with a self absorbed mother and emotionally weak father. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Harriet.