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Loading... The Habitby Susan Morse
   None No current Talk conversations about this book.   ) Cricket856 | Jan 25, 2016 |  Susan Morse is happily married to David Morse, a successful character actor with a long list of familiar credits. They have three children who are in their late teens during the period of the book. The book is a memoir of two years during which the author's mid-80's mother was having serious health issues and the author was called upon to take over health care management, transportation, bill-paying, etc. It's a typical sandwich-generation dilemma. The relationship has been rocky before and now they're forced to spend long periods of time together in the car, waiting for medical appointments, etc. The mother has changed religions several times and just before she becomes ill she has become a devout member of the Eastern Orthodox church. As the book opens she is becoming a nun. Having been through the sandwich generation years with a mother and mother-in-law who needed assistance I could relate to many of the challenges faced by this family, although my own mother and m-i-l were not nearly as colorful as Ms. Morse's mother is. I don't think there is a comparable term for a "coming of age" novel when it deals with late-life issues but, if there were, it would apply here. Ms. Morse deals with those challenges openly, fairly and lovingly which is what makes the book a warm, gentle read. If you've been there you'll smile and grimace in sympathy. If you're in the middle of it right now, it will probably feel good to know there are others out there. If you haven't reached that point yet you'll find it amusing and perhaps be better prepared if you find yourself the meat in that sandwich someday. (  ) RebaRelishesReading | Jan 13, 2013 | ) nyiper | Feb 8, 2012 | no reviews | add a review
There is an unmistakable gleam in Ma's eye, and her absolute composure both appalls me and rips my heart from its root. I burst into tears. The gauntlet is thrown. From the time she was conceived, Susan Morse was her mother's "special" child. For Susan, special translated into becoming her incorrigible mother's frazzled caretaker, a role that continued into adulthood. Now she finds herself as part of the sandwich generation, responsible for a woman whose eighty-five years have been single-mindedly devoted to identifying The Answer To Everything. And, this week's Answer looks like it may be the real thing. Susan's mother is becoming a nun. Mother Brigid is opinionated and discerning (Don't call them trash cans. They're scrap baskets!), feisty and dogmatic (Stop signs and No Parking zones are installed by bureaucratic pencil pushers with nothing better to do), a brilliant artist (truly, a saving grace), and predictably unpredictable, recently demonstrated by her decision to convert to Orthodox Christianity and join its holy order. Dressed in full nun regalia, she might be mistaken for a Taliban bigwig. But just as Mother Brigid makes her debut at church, a debilitating accident puts her in a rehab center hours from Susan's home, where Susan's already up to her neck juggling three teenagers, hot flashes, a dog, two cats, and a husband whose work pulls him away from the family for months at a time. Now Susan gets to find out if it's less exhausting to be at her mother's beck and call from one hundred miles away or one hundred feet. And she's beginning to suspect that the things she always thought she knew about her mother were only the tip of a wonderfully singular iceberg. In this fresh, funny, utterly irresistible memoir, Susan Morse offers readers a look at a mother-daughter relationship that is both universal and unique. For anyone who's wondered how they made it through their childhood with their sanity intact, for every multitasking woman coping simultaneously with parents and children, for those of us who love our parents come hell or high water (because we just can't help it), Susan Morse's story is surprising, reassuring, and laugh-out-loud funny. A beguiling journey of love, forbearance, and self-discovery, The Habit introduces two unforgettable women you'll be glad to know--from a safe distance. No library descriptions found. |
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 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)306.874Social sciences Social Sciences; Sociology and anthropology Culture and Institutions Marriage and Parenting Parenting Experiences of Family CaregiversLC ClassificationRatingAverage: (3.71)
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