While a mother can be defined as a creator, a nurturer, a protector—at the center of each mother is an individual who is attempting to manage her own fears, desires, and responsibilities in different and sometimes unexpected ways. In Know the Mother , author Desiree Cooper explores the complex archetype of the mother in all of her incarnations. In a collage of meditative stories, women—both black and white—find themselves wedged between their own yearnings and their roles as daughters, sisters, grandmothers, and wives. In this heart-wrenching collection, Cooper reveals that gender and race are often unanticipated interlopers in family life. An anxious mother reflects on her prenatal fantasies of suicide while waiting for her daughter to come home late one night. A lawyer miscarries during a conference call and must proceed as though nothing has happened. On a rare night out with her husband, a new mother tries convincing herself that everything is still the same. A politician's wife's thoughts turn to slavery as she contemplates her own escape: "Even Harriet Tubman had realized that freedom wasn't worth the price of abandoning her family, so she'd come back home. She'd risked it all for love." With her lyrical and carefully crafted prose, Cooper's stories provide truths without sermon and invite empathy without sentimentality. Know the Mother explores the intersection of race and gender in vignettes that pull you in and then are gone in an instant. Readers of short fiction will appreciate this deeply felt collection.

lgli/R:\Project-Muse\md5_rep\F94A4C72630088E8D7D9C02F03559796.pdf

zlib/no-category/Stories by Desiree Cooper/Know the Mother_28730863.pdf

Project MUSE (https://muse.jhu.edu/)

Cooper, Desiree

Great Lakes Books

Painted Turtle

United States, United States of America

United States, 2016

Mar 14, 2016

producers:
Muse-DL/1.0.0

Cover 1
Title Page, Copyright, Dedication 2
Contents 10
Witching Hour 14
Feeding the Lions 16
Away from the Woodsman 18
Ichthyophobe 22
One Candle Left 26
Laughter and Caprice 32
Queen of the Nile 36
Reporting for Duty, 1959 40
Know the Mother 50
Princess Lily 52
Cartoon Blue 54
Night Coming 56
Mourning Chair 68
Ceiling 72
Origins of Sacrifice 74
In the Ginza 78
Home for the Holidays 82
Fifteen Items or Less 86
Soft Landing 90
Something Falls in the Night 94
Leftovers 98
On the Rim 100
The Disappearing Girl 102
Graveyard Love 106
Nocturne 110
Postbellum Love Story 114
Second Sleep 118
To the Bone 120
Requiem for a Dress 124
Open Sky 128
The Massage 132
Acknowledgments 136
Publisher:Wayne State University Press,Published:2016,ISBN:9780814341506,Language:English,OCLC:947085611
While a mother can be defined as a creator, a nurturer, a protector-at the center of each mother is an individual who is attempting to manage her own fears, desires, and responsibilities in different and sometimes unexpected ways. In Know the Mother, author Desiree Cooper explores the complex archetype of the mother in all of her incarnations. In a collage of meditative stories, women-both black and white-find themselves wedged between their own yearnings and their roles as daughters, sisters, grandmothers, and wives.In this heart-wrenching collection, Cooper reveals that gender and race are often unanticipated interlopers in family life. An anxious mother reflects on her prenatal fantasies of suicide while waiting for her daughter to come home late one night. A lawyer miscarries during a conference call and must proceed as though nothing has happened. On a rare night out with her husband, a new mother tries convincing herself that everything is still the same. A politician's wife's thoughts turn to slavery as she contemplates her own escape: "Even Harriet Tubman had realized that freedom wasn't worth the price of abandoning her family, so she'd come back home. She'd risked it all for love." With her lyrical and carefully crafted prose, Cooper's stories provide truths without sermon and invite empathy without sentimentality.Know the Mother explores the intersection of race and gender in vignettes that pull you in and then are gone in an instant. Readers of short fiction will appreciate this deeply felt collection.

"In Know the Mother, author Desiree Cooper explores the complex archetype of the mother in all of her incarnations. In a collage of meditative stories, women find themselves wedged between their own yearnings and their roles as daughters, sisters, grandmothers, and wives. ... With her lyrical and carefully crafted prose, Cooper's stories provide truths without sermon and invite empathy without sentimentality."--Page 2 of cover.

2022-03-08