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Mothers of the Mind: The Remarkable Women Who Shaped Virginia Woolf, Agatha Christie and Sylvia Plath
The stories of the remarkable mothers who shaped Virginia Woolf, Agatha Christie, and Sylvia Plath
Julia Stephen, Clara Miller, and Aurelia Plath were fascinating women in their own rights, and their relationships with their daughters were exceptional; they profoundly influenced the writers’ lives, literature, and attitude to feminism.
This book charts the complex, often contradictory, bond between these mothers and daughters. Too often in the past Virginia, Agatha and Sylvia have been defined by their lovers, this book redresses the balance by focusing on their formative affinity with their mothers.
Drawing on previously unpublished original sources from archives around the world and talking to family and friends of the women this book offers a new perspective on these iconic authors.
Julia Stephen, Clara Miller, and Aurelia Plath were fascinating women in their own rights, and their relationships with their daughters were exceptional; they profoundly influenced the writers’ lives, literature, and attitude to feminism.
This book charts the complex, often contradictory, bond between these mothers and daughters. Too often in the past Virginia, Agatha and Sylvia have been defined by their lovers, this book redresses the balance by focusing on their formative affinity with their mothers.
Drawing on previously unpublished original sources from archives around the world and talking to family and friends of the women this book offers a new perspective on these iconic authors.
- GenresNonfictionBiography
368 pages, Hardcover
Published April 2, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 4, 2024
I only read the Aurelia and Sylvia Plath section of this book, since I’m not very familiar with Virginia Woolf or Agatha Christie, but I plan to return to this book once I am. This was easily the most information I’ve ever found about Aurelia Plath, who was much more interesting in her own right than most Sylvia Plath critics have led me to believe. Even Heather Clark’s brilliant “Red Comet” failed to give me a such full picture of Aurelia. I’ve always found her to be sympathetic, if not a little stifling, in Sylvia’s life story, and I still have complicated feelings about their relationship, but Thethewey’s research was thorough and balanced, and it shed a whole new light on how I see this fraught mother/daughter relationship. Once I get familiar enough with Woolf and Christie that I can appreciate biographies on them, I’ll read the rest of this book.
November 15, 2023
Mothers are the symbols of love, protection and nurture. The mother-daughter bond can run incredibly deep and develop into a powerful relationship. However, there can be another side, darker and complicated, fraught with complex interpretations that mould the two parties into being.
This is the story of Julia Stephens, Clara Miller and Aurelia Plath. As mothers of the literary sensations; Virginia Woolf, Agatha Christie and Sylvia Plath, these women were no less remarkable than their daughters.
Rachel Trethewey investigates with great dedication the complicated relationships between these women and their unique parallels. Each woman would go on to be a monumental influence in their daughter's personal and professional life, while the world rapidly changed and the surge in feminism challenged the socially accepted roles of women in the domestic sphere.
Sectioned in three parts for each respective mother and daughter, this book can be read chronologically, but it can also be read however you like as each section is so rigorously studied it reads like a book within itself. Trethewey's narrative is engaging and sensitive, tackling her topic with grace and respect.
With a unique angle, Mothers of the Mind is an enjoyable reading experience. Providing an in-depth analysis of three giants within literature, we are finally able to view them in a lens other than their romantic love.
My greatest thanks to @thehistorypressuk who offered me this triumph of a book to review.
This is the story of Julia Stephens, Clara Miller and Aurelia Plath. As mothers of the literary sensations; Virginia Woolf, Agatha Christie and Sylvia Plath, these women were no less remarkable than their daughters.
Rachel Trethewey investigates with great dedication the complicated relationships between these women and their unique parallels. Each woman would go on to be a monumental influence in their daughter's personal and professional life, while the world rapidly changed and the surge in feminism challenged the socially accepted roles of women in the domestic sphere.
Sectioned in three parts for each respective mother and daughter, this book can be read chronologically, but it can also be read however you like as each section is so rigorously studied it reads like a book within itself. Trethewey's narrative is engaging and sensitive, tackling her topic with grace and respect.
With a unique angle, Mothers of the Mind is an enjoyable reading experience. Providing an in-depth analysis of three giants within literature, we are finally able to view them in a lens other than their romantic love.
My greatest thanks to @thehistorypressuk who offered me this triumph of a book to review.
October 15, 2023
Outstanding
Fascinating insights into Sylvia Plath and Virginia Woolf’s relationships with their mothers, who are portrayed as powerful and interesting characters in their own right.
Fascinating insights into Sylvia Plath and Virginia Woolf’s relationships with their mothers, who are portrayed as powerful and interesting characters in their own right.
October 26, 2023
Three literary giants Virginia Woolf, Agatha Christie and Sylvia Plath are known the world over. This book gives us the story of the remarkable women who shaped them; Julia Stephen, Clara Miller and Aurelia Plath. These were incredible and fascinating women in their own right and as parents profoundly influenced their daughters lives.
The mother - daughter bond as we know can be a tricky one to negotiate, but always for better or worse it shapes who we become. I found this such an interesting way to look at these authors, as it often isn’t done. They tend to get written about in relation to their lovers, or their writing work and their lives lived forward, rather than looking at where they came from and how their mother may have influenced their behaviour and ultimately their literary output.
I basically went straight for Agatha Christie and her mother Clara Miller first, so started in the middle! I found it utterly fascinating, meticulously researched and detailed and learned a huge amount about why my favourite author became the person she did.
But most of all I just simply enjoyed learning about three women, who I knew nothing about. This is a great book for fans of these authors but also I think is just a really important piece of history and research, well worth a read!
The mother - daughter bond as we know can be a tricky one to negotiate, but always for better or worse it shapes who we become. I found this such an interesting way to look at these authors, as it often isn’t done. They tend to get written about in relation to their lovers, or their writing work and their lives lived forward, rather than looking at where they came from and how their mother may have influenced their behaviour and ultimately their literary output.
I basically went straight for Agatha Christie and her mother Clara Miller first, so started in the middle! I found it utterly fascinating, meticulously researched and detailed and learned a huge amount about why my favourite author became the person she did.
But most of all I just simply enjoyed learning about three women, who I knew nothing about. This is a great book for fans of these authors but also I think is just a really important piece of history and research, well worth a read!
October 16, 2023
Trethewey does a remarkable job illustrating the nuances among these three sets of mother-daughter relationships and showing overall just how different mother-daughter relationships can be. She's brave to tackle the fraught issue of the Plaths and, I think, does as well as can be done with a really difficulty dynamic and history.
June 2, 2024
A very interesting read.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews