"Mothercare represents an investigation of the question of duty, or
conscience, what we owe or want to provide to the people in our lives. .
. For a reader, there's something bracing about Tillman's honesty, which
transforms "Mothercare" from a record or a logbook into a work of art."
--David Ulin, Los Angeles Times
From the brilliantly original novelist and cultural critic Lynne Tillman
comes MOTHERCARE, an honest and beautifully written account of a sudden,
drastically changed relationship to one's mother, and of the time and
labor spent navigating the American healthcare system.
When a mother's unusual health condition, normal pressure hydrocephalus,
renders her entirely dependent on you, your sisters, caregivers, and
companions, the unthinkable becomes daily life. In MOTHERCARE, Tillman
describes doing what seems impossible: handling her mother as if she
were a child and coping with a longtime ambivalence toward her.
In Tillman's celebrated style and as a "rich noticer of strange things"
(Colm Tóibín), she describes, without flinching, the unexpected,
heartbreaking, and anxious eleven years of caring for a sick parent.
MOTHERCARE is both a cautionary tale and sympathetic guidance for anyone
who suddenly becomes a caregiver. This story may be helpful,
informative, consoling, or upsetting, but it never fails to underscore
how impossible it is to get the job done completely right.
