Family ceasefire: finding a way to make peace with your mother

Love, as they say, is a battlefield, and no one knows this better than Iris Krasnow. After decades of clashing with her strong-willed mother, the best-selling author of Surrendering to Motherhood decided to write a book about how she finally came to terms with this formidable figure in her life. Women caught in similar family conflicts who don’t quite know how to end the hostilities will appreciate Krasnow’s new book, I Am My Mother’s Daughter: Making Peace with Mom Before It’s Too Late. In writing about the special kind of diplomacy required for many mothers and daughters to achieve peace, Krasnow tapped into her own complicated past and interviewed countless women in their 30s and beyond who still had major issues with their mothers. While the women’s backgrounds may vary, she writes, their experiences have brought them to this common conclusion: Ditching old baggage and learning to love our mothers must come before we learn to love, and know, ourselves. Poignant, wise, and thought provoking, I Am My Mother’s Daughter is sure to resonate with female readers of all ages. A woman’s relationship with her mom may never be friction-free, Krasnow says, but both parties can lay aside old grievances and try to move forward. Offering invaluable advice on how to negotiate this delicate territory, Krasnow’s latest is a sensitively written book about compromise and reconciliation. Her message to readers is plain and simple: Forgive and forget while you’ve still got time.