Friday, April 1, 2011

Especially for Mothers & Daughters

Readers may recognize the name Sue Monk Kidd from her bestselling book turned film, The Secret Life of Bees.  Her most recent work is a co-authored travel memoir which she writes with her daughter, Ann Kidd Taylor, entitled Traveling With Pomegranates:  A Mother-Daughter Story.  The memoir alternates between the voices of these two women, as they explore the many ancient and sacred places Greece, Turkey, and France.  What they end up finding, as many people who travel do, is a greater sense of themselves.  Kidd, for example, describes her unusual inspiration for writing The Secret Life of Bees, while her daughter uncovers her life's calling.  What's most engaging is the way in which the experiences of these two women coalesce.  Female listeners may very well find themselves recalling their own mother-daughter experiences, as they read.  Note:  I strongly encourage readers to listen to this one on audio.  Kidd and Taylor read their own work with a melodic South-Carolinian dialect which is lovely to listen to.