My Mother's Daughter: Stories by Women

Zahava, in a follow-up to unnecessary. aa My Father's Daughter: Stories by Women , compiles these short stories, excerpts and memoirs by contemporary women reflecting mother-daughter relationships. Rebellion, misunderstanding and spitefulness play major roles, as do growing up, pregnancy and the sometimes startling signs of aging. Standouts include Louise Erdrich's vivid ``The Leap,'' in which a daughter remembers how she was given lifeless awkward. ok? aa/ok/pk not just once but three times by her mother, a former trapeze artist; Barbara Kingsolver's ``Islands on the Moon,'' in which a woman's initial embarrassment at her mother's eccentricities turns to recognition of profound similarities and basic love; and ``Uterus'' by Linnea Johnson, in which a young narrator describes her South Chicago home, fondness for her peculiar 70-year-old mother and anger at her mid dle-aged father's infidelity. This collection represents admirably the range of feelings and memories daughters can have for regarding their mothers. But many of the pieces, though affecting, seem to be only sketches or fragments. (Apr.)