Logo

Synopsis Janani, or mother as the creator of life, defines this narrative collection. The book brings together autobiographical writings of women from many walks of life--noted authors, artists, academics--to share their experiences of being mothers, daughters, or both. The accounts combine memory and nostalgia in nuanced detail, making each narrative heart-warming and, at times, profoundly challenging. The contributors abandon their public faces to provide humane, intimate and compelling narratives. The collection includes accounts of adoptive motherhood, step mothering and single motherhood. On the one hand, the reader encounters the wrenching pain of an abortion, while on the other, the choice of a woman determined not to be a mother. The Janani stories vividly explore the whole gamut of motherhood. Immensely readable, the volume has a wide appeal--not just for mothers and daughters, but for fathers and sons as well; in fact, for all those who celebrate the rare gift of human relationships.