The Language of Mothers - by Rain Wright (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The Language of Mothers is a lyrical weaving of Wright's matrilineal line of women's stories from grandmother to daughters that stretch from Dronfield, England, to Honolulu, Hawaii. Wright daringly insists on bringing domestic abuse and mental health narratives to light. The Language of Mothers calls forward generations of women's voices, telling her mother's stories of England and survival, her stories as a teenage mother, narratives of escaping domestic trauma, and the language of poetry that illuminates struggles with mental health that should never live in shame.

Review Quotes

"This collection of autobiographical narratives and poems that meditate on motherhood is a love letter to the authors' daughters and mothers, and to the land and waters of Hawai'i. Even as the stories Rain Wright tells recount heartrending experiences of domestic violence, struggles with mental health, substance abuse, cancer, houselessness, and loss, they are luminous and beautiful. Imagery of light and water flows through the intimate geographies of this book--through Wright's lyrical language, and her mother's artwork. As it makes a healing home for the generations of women in her life, The Language of Mothers creates a space for readers to breathe in the love that it radiates for them and their other-than-human companions, and for the 'āina." Cynthia Franklin, author of Narrating Humanity: Life Writing and Movement Politics from Palestine to Mauna Kea

"The Language of Mothers offers both a harrowing story of the cascading effects of trauma and a testament to the healing strength of mother-daughter love. Wright's language is not just cerebral; she creates a language of the body, a tactile grammar, a visceral poetry. Rain Wright is a distinctive and stunning new voice." Shawna Yang Ryan, author of Green Island

"Rain Wright's The Language of Mothers is a tender and precious gift of memory full of hard-earned wisdom, honesty, and lyricism to match. An incredible feat of love and hope spanning generations, this is a singular work of art." Joseph Han, author of Nuclear Family

About the Author

Rain Wright was born in Big Sur, California and raised in Honaunau, Hawai?i. She acknowledges the Kanaka Maoli land and people whose land and occupied country she writes from in her small cottage in Honolulu. She received her Ph.D. in English with a focus on creative writing from the University of Hawai' i at Manoa. She teaches as a lecturer at the University of Hawai' i. Recently, her work has appeared in Fugue Journal, Connotations Press: An Online Artifact, Madras Magazine, The Pinch Journal, and Minerva Rising. Rain is the Prose Editor for Antipodes Journal.