My Mother Was Right: How Today's Women Reconcile with Their Mothers

The dynamics of relationships between baby-boomer women and their mothers are the subject of this evenhanded study. ""Given the two very disparate worlds baby boomer daughters and our mothers live in, it has been especially difficult to relate to each other sometimes,"" note the authors, who cite the feminist movement and other social trends as reasons why baby boomers have often perceived themselves as having little in common with their moms. But the premise here is that as women age, they begin to identify more closely with their mothers and to develop a greater appreciation for their mothers' values and lifestyle. These findings were reached through a series of questionnaires, interviews and focus groups with 170 35-55-year-old women. McFarland, a psychologist, and Watson-Rouslin, a freelance writer, don't come up with any new insights, but their careful attention to the many forms such relationships take can help readers put their own feelings about their mothers in a larger, edifying context. And the authors' persistent willingness to find validity in the perspectives of mothers and daughters alike offers a model for those who hope to improve relations with their own parents or children. (Nov.)