Overview

""Marianne Richmond's early life was shaped by trauma and obfuscation, but in If You Were My Daughter she explores the covenant of motherhood and-with clarity, compassion and wit-reclaims her own story."" - Jeannette Walls, New York Times bestselling author of The Glass Castle From bestselling children's author Marianne Richmond comes a powerful memoir about overcoming a mother's emotional neglect and finding the courage to reclaim the story of your life. ""In her beautiful memoir, Richmond bravely finds her way through a legacy of emotional trauma, pulling us into her courageous, tender heart while bringing us closer to our own...a stunning story."" -- Kelly McDaniel, author of Mother Hunger At nine years old, Marianne Richmond's life is upended when she collapses on her kitchen floor with full-body convulsions. ""Pinched nerve,"" says the ER doctor, a baffling explanation. But when one episode becomes many, it's clear something is wrong. Afraid to be at school, in her body and in her life, Marianne Richmond desperately hopes for help and healing. But her emotionally unavailable mother - still reeling from her own past trauma- refuses medication on Marianne's behalf, preferring to try prayer and homeopathy. At age 18, a full-body seizure in Marianne's dorm room leads her to a diagnosis, medication, and-at long last-neurological intervention. Physically, Marianne feels ""fixed,"" but emotional healing proves more elusive. In the years to come, Marianne becomes a parent herself, and writes a new story for her life. She authors children's books that touch millions of lives, each of them celebrating a mother's unconditional love for her children. A love her own heart still longs to know. When her mother becomes ill, Marianne has a choice to make- will she be present for the mother who rarely felt present to her? If You Were My Daughter is a story of learning to hear your own voice, of one daughter's return to wholeness, and ultimately, a story of accepting that, despite all hope and longing, a mother's ""best I could"" can still fall far too short. Most of all, Marianne Richmond illuminates how the stories we're born into shape the ones we tell about ourselves-and reminds us that we have the powerful permission to develop a new relationship with what is difficult in our lives, to fully choose and embody who we are meant to be.

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9781464231902

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""In her beautiful memoir, Richmond bravely finds her way through a legacy of emotional trauma, pulling us into her courageous, tender heart while bringing us closer to our own...a stunning story. "" -- Kelly McDaniel LPC, psychotherapist and author of Mother Hunger: How Adult Daughters Can Understand and Heal from Lost Nurturance, Protection, and Guidance and Ready to Heal: Helping Women Heal from Addictive Relationships

"""In her beautiful memoir, Richmond bravely finds her way through a legacy of emotional trauma, pulling us into her courageous, tender heart while bringing us closer to our own...a stunning story. "" -- Kelly McDaniel LPC, psychotherapist and author of Mother Hunger: How Adult Daughters Can Understand and Heal from Lost Nurturance, Protection, and Guidance and Ready to Heal: Helping Women Heal from Addictive Relationships"

"""Marianne Richmond brings us into the quiet terror of her childhood seizures, and by doing so, illuminates a universal truth; when we are young and frightened, in order to avoid traumatic stress, we need nurturing, protective guidance. In her beautiful memoir, Richmond bravely finds her way through a legacy of shame and trauma, pulling us into her brave, tender heart while bringing us closer to our own. If You Were My Daughter is a stunning story of the enduring heartache embedded in Mother Hunger, and the heroic measures a woman takes to create a fulfilling life."" -- Kelly McDaniel LPC, psychotherapist and author of Mother Hunger: How Adult Daughters Can Understand and Heal from Lost Nurturance, Protection, and Guidance and Ready to Heal: Helping Women Heal from Addictive Relationships"

Author Information

Beloved author and illustrator MARIANNE RICHMOND has touched the lives of millions for nearly two decades through her award winning books, greeting cards, and other gift products that offer people the most heartfelt way to connect with each other. She lives in the Nashville area. Visit www.mariannerichmond.com.

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