By Elissa Altman – <\/b>Ballantine Books, 2019<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Elissa Altman is an accomplished author and food writer, who, in <\/span>Motherland,<\/span><\/i> turns inward with a candid and heartfelt tale of growing up and growing older with her narcissistic, vain and controlling mother, Rita. Altman tries repeatedly to break from her mother\u2019s emotional grasp. Finally, in her 40s, Altman asserts her independence, leaves Manhattan and moves to Connecticut to live with her wife. Mother and daughter could not be more different. Rita, once a singer of modest acclaim, is now a consumer of all things beauty, a real looker. Altman is attracted to men\u2019s clothing, culinary pursuits, hearth and home. Altman knows she will never measure up to her mother\u2019s expectations and won\u2019t be truly free until she can let go but still answers when Rita calls. It\u2019s a contentious and codependent relationship at best, and just when there could be light at the end of the tunnel for Altman, Rita suffers a fall that leaves her needing\u2014and at times, refusing\u2014her daughter\u2019s help. In a study of how not to age with grace, Altman tells the story with cringe-worthy honesty; you\u2019ll laugh and shudder in equal measure.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Elissa Altman <\/span>turns inward with a candid and heartfelt tale of growing up and growing older with her narcissistic, vain and controlling mother, Rita.<\/span><\/p>\n