The Mother Knot

Praise for The Mother Knot

“Harrison’s fascinating memoir nails a never-before-uttered psychological truth. A drama with her own child forces the writer to unknot—with great agony—the bonds that enslaved her to the memory of her own capricious mother, who almost manages—even from the grave—to destroy her only surviving child. This book should be required reading for anyone who ever had a mother.”
—MARY KARR, author of The Liars’ Club

“Mothers: They birth us, mold us, influence who we are and who we can become. Even in memory, their hold on daughters is complete. I loved The Mother Knot for its honest assessment of the ongoing impact this most primal of bonds can have on an adult daughter. In prose that manages to be both luminous and economical, in sentences that feel as effortless as breathing, Kathryn Harrison poignantly details the lengths to which one daughter must go, in order to finally let go.”
—HOPE EDELMAN, author of Motherless Daughters

“I am not alone. Kathryn Harrison’s new memoir has revealed that poignantly, beautifully, the way the best literature always does. Sure, the details of her story are unique, but the haunting emotions that weave together daughterhood and motherhood are universal. I just couldn’t put The Mother Knot down.”
—MARTHA MCPHEE, author of Gorgeous Lies

“The Mother Knot is a prose poem dedicated to performing a difficult task at which Kathryn Harrison always elegantly succeeds. Here, once again, she has found great beauty in limning hard truths. She is one of the most compelling writers I know, a true artist whose formidable talent is matched by her courage.”
—ELIZABETH BERG, author of The Art of Mending

“Kathryn Harrison’s new memoir, written with razor blades and honey, is a compelling mother-daughter study, full of truths about our lives. The book is moving and beautifully written.”
—ERICA JONG, author of Sappho’s Leap