ISBN: 0-88739-336-5
212 pp.
Size: 6 x 9
Paperback Original
Price: $14.95
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Memories of a Mother
Dorothy B. Tyler
Grappling with the loss of his wife, a father tries to explain who she was-and why she did what she did-to his angry teenaged son. He writes to everyone who knew her, soliciting stories that he hopes will break down the wall of pain that separates him from his son. As in a collage where the complete image isn't found in any one of the pieces, no one person-not her friends, lovers, business partner, mother, or husband-seems to have known the talented dog-trainer completely. Katharine, Kath, Dizzy, Sissy-even their names for her are different.
In this captivating epistolary novel the history of a mother is pieced together by a rich pastiche of voices, revealing a complicated, tormented life beyond the simple existence her son had known.
I have spent many hours in deep distress over you father's plan.... It is with grave misgivings that I...
Your mom and I were business partners.... She would take the worst animals and turn them into lambs in no time. She used to say she wasn't training the dogs, she was training the owners.... So this guy shows up and watches a class of particularly large dogs. I think it was an advanced class. They sure all seemed pretty docile for beginners. And my acquaintance was intrigued. "Can she do that with any dog?" "Just about," I bragged.
Look, it may be hard for a heterosexual who has never been in the same position to understand this but neither your mother nor I were at that time, nor any other, homosexual. Nor were we bisexual. We weren't anything. It wasn't really about sex.
Bio: DOROTHY B. TYLER is adored by her two dogs, cherished by her husband, loved by her three children, and ignored by both cats. A former officer in the United States Air Force, computer programmer, and lawyer, she is now a stay-at-home mom. Born in New Jersey, she has lived all over the country and in Germany.
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