We Are Our Mothers’ Daughters

Washington Post

This book is a celebration of women in their various roles: mother, sister, civil rights advocate, consumer advocate, first-classmechanic, politician . . . . [It is a] paean to feminism and the solidarity of womankind.

USA Today

Packed with intelligent, energetic women.

Library Journal

For the cohost of television's 'This Week' (ABC-News), we are not just 'our mothers' daughters' but the daughters of all those women who came before us, who sustained, inspired, and taught us. Showing how women are connected 'throughout time and regardless of place,' Roberts interweaves personal vignettes, an overlay of the history of the women's vote and the women's movement, and brief individual histories of women who represent the 'many roles women play.' Many of these women are connected with government, since Roberts is the daughter of former U.S. Representatives Hale Boggs (deceased) and Lindy Boggs (both D-LA), but there is also Eva Oliver, a former welfare mother, and numerous other unsung women.

Simply but feelingly written, this could be recommended to just-turned-teenagers as well as adults, though the latter may be surprised at the somewhat ingenuous tone from a seasoned reporter. -- Francine Fialkoff

Library Journal

For the cohost of television's 'This Week' (ABC-News), we are not just 'our mothers' daughters' but the daughters of all those women who came before us, who sustained, inspired, and taught us. Showing how women are connected 'throughout time and regardless of place,' Roberts interweaves personal vignettes, an overlay of the history of the women's vote and the women's movement, and brief individual histories of women who represent the 'many roles women play.' Many of these women are connected with government, since Roberts is the daughter of former U.S. Representatives Hale Boggs (deceased) and Lindy Boggs (both D-LA), but there is also Eva Oliver, a former welfare mother, and numerous other unsung women.

Simply but feelingly written, this could be recommended to just-turned-teenagers as well as adults, though the latter may be surprised at the somewhat ingenuous tone from a seasoned reporter. -- Francine Fialkoff

School Library Journal

Roberts, an NPR and ABC correspondent, has written a series of wide-ranging essays that are delightful to read, if difficult to classify. She gently leads readers from her sister's untimely death from cancer, through her early married years as an unquestioning follower of her husband's career, to historical vignettes featuring women as warriors, fighters for human rights, or entrepreneurs. In each of these selections, the author's voice is honest, and sometimes bewildered, as she attempts to fix upon what it is that women do and what it is they should be passing on to the next generation. Roberts discusses her grandmothers and eccentric aunts as well as her own daughter and her friends. She comments that her mother and mother-in-law were both under 50 when they became grandmothers, giving that relationship a long time to grow and change. Today's young women, waiting later to marry and have children, may miss this lively connection. These and other observations are indeed food for thought, and reading this slim volume gives mothers, daughters, aunts, sisters, friends, and other female relations much to think about. Many of the historical tidbits may tempt YAs to look further into the brief list of suggested readings. This is a fine vehicle for discussion or individual contemplation, giving both mothers and daughters new perspectives for viewing one another. Wonderful material for all ages.-Susan H. Woodcock, Kings Park Library, Burke, VA

Booknews

Essays describe personal experiences, women's roles, and some of the fascinating people met in the course of Roberts' career. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

USA Today

Packed with intelligent, energetic women.

Dorothy Rompalske

....[A] welcome addition to some of the most important political and personal discussions about the "place of women" in American society that are occurring today.
— Biography

Kirkus Reviews

Sound bites rather than substance from a reporter known for her insightful political analyses on National Public Radio and ABC-TV. NPR fans know veteran journalist Roberts as one- third of the female triumvirate (Nina Totenberg and Linda Wertheimer complete the triangle) that has long ruled public-radio airwaves, breaking stories and delving deeply into substantive issues. Roberts claims to want to do the same here. As a woman in her mid-50s, she has lived through many of the changes created by the women's movement. This book is meant to offer perspective on the ways that women's lives have changed so radically by telling stories about the roles women play.

Unfortunately, the analysis is as slim as the book itself. Roberts sets her rather general tone by dividing the book into the generic roles women may play, beginning with sister and moving through politician—her mother was noted Congresswoman Lindy Boggs—mechanic first class, friend, wife, and mother/daughter, among others. Some stories are historical or biographical in nature, such as the chapter that examines the life of consumer advocate Esther Peterson. Others are more personal in nature, such as Roberts' musings on her sister, Barbara, who died not long ago after a bout with cancer. None are particularly pithy. In the section on the trials of juggling a career with her reporter husband, Steven, for instance, Roberts glosses over huge issues, such as finding day care or babysitting help in an era where few women worked outside the home. 'We've had many a `heated discussion,' as the politicians say, over the appropriate allocation of each other's time between work and family,' she writes in the chapter called 'Wife.'This is the historical reference for today's working mothers?