Becoming a grandmother is both exciting and challenging. In Celebrating Grandmothers, 27 women describe - in their own words - how they responded to the many pleasures and demands of this role. They also explore how it changed both their view of themselves and the texture of their lives.
How did you feel holding your first grandchild? Does your time with the grandchildren fly by? Is there a new depth – or new complexity – in your family relationships? These stories will speak to you.
Frequently recommended as an original present for a new grandmother.
“Confirms in a direct and delightful way just how special the grandmother-grandchild relationship is…Very interesting and heart-warming.”
- Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall, author of The Good Granny Guide
‘A fascinating analysis of what it feels like to be a grandmother today - from the joy and fulfilment to the disappointments and anxieties’ -
- Virginia Ironside, agony aunt and novelist
Ann Richardson has been a writer for many years. She is fascinated by other people’s thoughts, experiences and emotions and loves to write books where they can express their views in their own words.
She writes on different subjects that capture her interest for one reason or another. This includes a book about people living with AIDS or HIV thirty years ago when there was no cure (Wise Before Their Time, Foreword by Sir Ian McKellen); a book about what it is like to work in end-of-life care (Life in a Hospice, Foreword by Tony Benn); and a book about how it feels to be a grandmother (Celebrating Grandmothers).
Her most recent book. The Granny Who Stands on Her Head: Reflections on Growing Older, is a set of short pieces about the joys and challenges of becoming old, with an emphasis on the joys. It is also partly a memoir, including some stories from her life.
Ann lives in London, England, with her husband of 58 years.
Please visit her website www.annrichardson.co.uk
Being a grandmother means that a variety of relationships take on a heightened intensity. The role of mother-in-law can seem particularly awkward, famously the butt of many a joke. Some grandmothers find it difficult to negotiate relations with their son or daughter's spouse (or partner). In this excerpt, an Indian grandmother could not be more loving. 'Mother-in-love' is a wonderful expression.
Book Excerpt
Celebrating Grandmothers: Grandmothers Talk About Their Lives
I treat my daughter-in-law as a daughter. I told her parents ‘I’m not her mother-in-law, I’m her mother-in-love.’ I give her love, she is my daughter. I’m not an in-law. When they introduced me first time, they kept calling me ‘mother-in-law’ and I kept correcting them. I said, ‘Please don’t call me that.’ So, they understood, and then they said, ‘Her second Mum’.
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