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gift from her mother—three-dimensional, experiential, a work habit, a habit of being, a way of seeing the world—that magically, movingly reveals the story of her mother and of their relationship. Th e pieces run from short and sweet to long and wrenching, from hilarious to mournful, from heartwarming to heartbreaking. And the treasured gifts shimmer in their variety and uniqueness: an etiquette book, a plant, a necklace, a horse, a passport, a trip on the Circle Line boat around Manhattan. One woman received from her writer mother the habits of writing a thousand words a day plus one charming note. Another got the gift of taking the impossible in stride. And one was given a few bottles of nail polish that changed her life.
    Singly, each piece is a gem to me: a gathering in of memory, affection, and gratitude, however tormented the relationships once were. Taken together, the pieces have a force that feels as elemental as the tides: outpourings of lightness and darkness; simple joy and devastating grief; mother love and daughter love; mother love and daughter rage; the anguish of suffering mothers and daughters powerless to help them—and the spoken and unspoken weight of missing all the mothers who are gone.
    Having had an unhappy mother, I found myself astonished—feeling a mixture of envy and disbelief—by the stories of happy mothers and daughters. At first, I thought it was the younger writers whose mothers were happy, those whose mothers had more control over their lives and their finances than women of my mother’s generation. But as essays arrived over a period of months, I saw I was wrong: there are happy mothers from all generations in this collection. Such mothers—it’s clear from these pages—raise more lighthearted offspring than unhappy ones; or do I mean only that the absence of torment is palpable in their pages?
    As essay after essay reveals, a single gift can easily tell the story of an entire life. Yet for all the richness here, it’s striking how modest almost all of these gifts are. A used cake pan, a homemade quilt, a wok, a Mexican blouse, a family photograph. It just might be, after all, that it’s the thought that counts—and the packaging, too. I don’t mean the paper and the ribbons, but the emotional wrapping, the occasion for the gift, the spirit in which it was given, and everything that happened before and after. Th is is another way of saying that, as gift givers and recipients—whether we are mothers, daughters, aunts, sisters, or cherished friends—we may not know for quite some time which presents will matter most.

I lene Beckerman’s beloved and bestselling book has been adapted for the stage by Nora and Delia Ephron. The star-studded Off-Broadway show is receiving rave reviews, as did the book:

    ISBN 978-1-56512-475-2
    “Illuminates the experience of an entire generation of women . . . This small gem of a book is worthy of a Tiffany box.”
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The New York Times Book Review
    “Never has the love of beautiful clothes seemed less frivolous.”
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The New Yorker
    I nspired by a school reunion, Beckerman addresses what really matters in life .

    ISBN 978-1-56512-374-8
    “[An] eloquent blend of memoir and down-to-earth advice . . . makes these lessons not only worth learning, but irresistible as well.”
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The Common Reader
    “Cuts to the heart of the female experience.”
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Chicago Tribune
    T he highs and lows of a relationship with an adult daughter are revealed in this poignant and candid story .

    ISBN 978-1-56512-476-9
    “Pithy wit and cute drawings sketch the happy tears, bittersweet memories and flares of anxiety that a daughter’s wedding elicits.”—
The Dallas Morning News
    “This is no mere humor book. Amid the drolleries are the poignant reflections of a mother.”— Beliefnet.com
    L ooking for love is never easy, and it’s never what you expect. This eloquent book is a reminder of how true that is .

    ISBN 978-1-56512-180-5
    “This savory little