I Am My Mother’s Daughter: Wisdom on Life, Loss, and Love, Dara Kurtz

As someone who does not have a wonderful relationship with my mom, I was hesitant at reading this book. That being said, I am familiar with Dara Kurtz’s work, and because of that, I took the plunge, and I’m glad I did.

Mother’s Daughter is equal parts light-hearted and deep. Dara lost her mother almost simultaneously as she gave birth to the first of her two daughters. Growing up in a strongly bonded Jewish family, Dara felt for years how she missed out on the mother-daughter experience and the grandmother-granddaughter experience for her children until one day she found, to her surprise, a stashed ziplock bag filled with cards and letters from the past.

The book is intertwined with the wisdom of excerpts from the letters, the bulk of which were from Dara’s mother and grandmothers, and the lessons Dara learned from them. Dara offers herself in a vulnerable and raw state throughout the book and encourages others to not dwell in their grief but to learn to use the written word to help others know about people they have lost; i.e., Dara’s gift to her daughters was a mommy-daughter journal where they could safely communicate with their mom, and her own mother’s notes and letters as a way for her daughters to know the woman they would never meet.

I took a lot away from I am My Mother’s Daughter. A great read - one I completed in a day.