My Mama's Waltz - by Eleanor Agnew (Paperback)

About the Book

Emotional support for those wishing to overcome an alcoholic mother's destructive influences and create a happy, fulfilled life.

Book Synopsis

"She was my best friend when sober and I was her worst enemy when she was drunk."
With stunning honesty, My Mama's Waltz brings to light the painful legacy of daughters of alcoholic mothers -- in the first book to focus solely on this fractured relationship. Eleanor Agnew and Sharon Robideaux share their own personal accounts along with the memories and experiences of hundreds of women, from all ages and backgrounds, in an intimate and powerful narrative journey. Their recollections, courageous and unforgettable, resoundingly confirm that women who deal with the remnants of a childhood cut short by an alcoholic mother are not alone. Powerful, often wrenching, but ultimately hopeful and inspiring, My Mama's Waltz offers the support and reassurance adult daughters seek to reconcile the past and heal the heart.

From the Back Cover

With stunning honesty, MY MAMA'S WALTZ brings to light the painful legacy of daughters of alcoholic mothers -- in the first book to focus solely on this fractured relationship. Eleanor Agnew and Sharon Robideaux share their own personal accounts along with the memories and experiences of hundreds of women, from all ages and backgrounds, in an intimate and powerful narrative journey. Their recollections, courageous and unforgettable, resoundingly confirm that women who deal with the remnants of a childhood cut short by an alcoholic mother are not alone. Powerful, often wrenching, but ultimately hopeful and inspiring, MY MAMA'S WALTZ offers the support and reassurance adult daughters seek to reconcile the past and heal the heart.

Review Quotes

"Ellen" (Georgia) Thank you for your treatment of a very serious topic. I also appreciate your bibliography.

"Gary" (Florida) If your book can prevent one woman from taking the path my wife did, then you can take comfort in having the knowledge that you helped save a life.

"Vicky" (New York) I read your wonderful book. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.

New York Newsday Well-written, and full of personal anecdotes, this book is a valuable resource for the many women trying to recover from a difficult childhood....Enormously helpful.

The Washington Post Book World The authors have brought the family secret of maternal alcoholism out into the open....The book benefits tremendously from the emotional understanding they bring to their subject and their elegant crafting of the...stories they have collected.

Hope Edelman, bestselling author of Motherless Daughters My Mama's Waltz fills what was a noticeably empty spot in the literature of loss, addressing what Eleanor Agnew and Sharon Robideaux evocatively reveal to be the specific issues and concerns of daughters made motherless by alcoholism. This book gives a voice to the millions of women who lost theirs as children and whose stories of survival deserve to be told.

Amazon.com Fascinating and inspiring....The confusion and pain experienced by daughters of alcoholic mothers...is thoroughly explored by Eleanor Agnew and Sharon Robideaux....The book brings with it the force of truth in numbers....All the tales in this compassionate and important book ring with clarity.

Nancy Waite-O'Brien, Ph.D., Director of Psychological Services, Betty Ford Center Remarkable...A book that is wise, warm, and refrains from proposing simple solutions to complex issues.

About the Author

Eleanor Agnew (left) is an associate professor of English at Georgia Southern University. She has been an editor and columnist for regional news magazines, and has presented her published academic works at national conferences. She lives in Savannah, Georgia.