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Book Reviews of Playing House: Notes of a Reluctant Mother

Playing House: Notes of a Reluctant Mother
Playing House Notes of a Reluctant Mother
Author: Lauren Slater
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ISBN-13: 9780807001738
ISBN-10: 0807001732
Publication Date: 11/5/2013
Pages: 208
Rating:
  • Currently 3/5 Stars.
 1

3 stars, based on 1 rating
Publisher: Beacon Press
Book Type: Hardcover
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Summary:
Slater tells her tales of marrying, becoming a mother, dealing with a mental illness, dealing with her mother, attempting to build a home, aborting a child, and then having another one. Slater is extremely honest about everything she faces. In an essay style, she goes through each tale in a fairly succinct time sequence.

My thoughts:
The title is comical in my opinion, so I expected some humor. While there is humor, it is few and far between. Slater goes through many bad times before any humor pops up. While I fit into some of the same categories that Slater does, a woman who was not exactly thrilled about marriage, not certain about having children, and always dealing with a childhood that was not filled with excellent examples, I did have a hard time getting through each of Slater's essays. I found it hard to relate to her decisions at times which made it easier to put it down than to pick it back up again. While I appreciated her in depth analysis of her personal struggles, I definitely read this one essay at a time in between some more uplifting books that healed my heart a little bit. I only gave this three stars because it was difficult to read without much of a break in between the heartache. It is well written and definitely a good look at the inside of someone's head.