I still remember the day we found out our son had Asperger's syndrome. How could I forget? It was a hot June morning and we were getting the kids ready for a walk to our neighborhood pool. The phone rang,...
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We all know the double standard of parenting expectations: to be declared a good mom, a mother needs to do anything and everything for the benefit of her child, and every decision she makes may be scrutinized by friends, relatives,...
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Experiencing a mother's death is one of the biggest milestones in a woman's life. Whether the relationship is close or distant, loving or corrosive, enmeshed or shallow does not matter; her source, her guardian, her primary model of female identity...
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I write this review out of deep jealousy. For years I've known Amy Alley as a South Carolina artist. I also know her as a single mother and a successful arts teacher. Now she has published a novel. How does...
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In Mary Crockett Hill's poem "The Fat Cat," one line in particular stands out: "Someone should write a manual for avoiding random horrors." Although that manual may not exist, three recent collections of poetry -- Mary Crockett Hill's a theory...
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When my daughter, Stella, was born six years ago, I felt completely unprepared for motherhood. This had to do in part with the circumstances of Stella's birth -- she was born two months premature and spent a month in the...
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