Mean Mothers: Overcoming the Legacy of Hurt

Description

You won't find horror stories of outrageous abuse in "Mean Mothers". But that's one of Peg Steep's clearest messages: that while the most sensational stories get the most attention in the media, little is said about those mothers who, despite their picket fences, relative affluence, and middle-class standing in society, are unable or unwilling to love the daughters they have given birth to. "Mean Mothers" demonstrates what happens to a daughter's formulation of self and her relationships when her mother is either emotionally absent or, worse, cruel and unloving. Based in the latest research as well as interviews with experts in many fields, the book draws on the real-life experiences of adult daughters, including those of the author herself, who have tried to come to terms with the emotional and psychological legacies their mothers bequeathed them. With its unflinching look at what can go wrong when a mother doesn't love her child, "Mean Mothers" can help every woman - even those blessed with loving mothers - better understand this most central of female relationships.

Peg Streep is both the daughter of a mean mother and the devoted mother of an adult daughter. She is the author or coauthor of nine books, including Girl in the Mirror: Mothers and Daughters in the Years of Adolescence and the bestselling Necessary Journeys: Letting Ourselves Learn from Life, both with Dr. Nancy L. Snyderman. Streep holds degrees in English from the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University. A native New Yorker, she is married and lives in Burlington, Vermont.