When Women Were Birds

Fifty-four Variations on Voice

Biography & Memoir
Cover of the book When Women Were Birds by Terry Tempest Williams, Farrar, Straus and Giroux
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Author: Terry Tempest Williams ISBN: 9781429942829
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Publication: April 10, 2012
Imprint: Sarah Crichton Books Language: English
Author: Terry Tempest Williams
ISBN: 9781429942829
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication: April 10, 2012
Imprint: Sarah Crichton Books
Language: English

The beloved author of Refuge returns with a work that explodes and startles, illuminates and celebrates

Terry Tempest Williams's mother told her: "I am leaving you all my journals, but you must promise me you won't look at them until after I'm gone."

Readers of Williams's iconic and unconventional memoir, Refuge, well remember that mother. She was one of a large Mormon clan in northern Utah who developed cancer as a result of the nuclear testing in nearby Nevada. It was a shock to Williams to discover that her mother had kept journals. But not as much of a shock as what she found when the time came to read them.

"They were exactly where she said they would be: three shelves of beautiful cloth-bound books . . . I opened the first journal. It was empty. I opened the second journal. It was empty. I opened the third. It too was empty . . . Shelf after shelf after shelf, all of my mother's journals were blank." What did Williams's mother mean by that? In fifty-four chapters that unfold like a series of yoga poses, each with its own logic and beauty, Williams creates a lyrical and caring meditation of the mystery of her mother's journals. When Women Were Birds is a kaleidoscope that keeps turning around the question "What does it mean to have a voice?"

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The beloved author of Refuge returns with a work that explodes and startles, illuminates and celebrates

Terry Tempest Williams's mother told her: "I am leaving you all my journals, but you must promise me you won't look at them until after I'm gone."

Readers of Williams's iconic and unconventional memoir, Refuge, well remember that mother. She was one of a large Mormon clan in northern Utah who developed cancer as a result of the nuclear testing in nearby Nevada. It was a shock to Williams to discover that her mother had kept journals. But not as much of a shock as what she found when the time came to read them.

"They were exactly where she said they would be: three shelves of beautiful cloth-bound books . . . I opened the first journal. It was empty. I opened the second journal. It was empty. I opened the third. It too was empty . . . Shelf after shelf after shelf, all of my mother's journals were blank." What did Williams's mother mean by that? In fifty-four chapters that unfold like a series of yoga poses, each with its own logic and beauty, Williams creates a lyrical and caring meditation of the mystery of her mother's journals. When Women Were Birds is a kaleidoscope that keeps turning around the question "What does it mean to have a voice?"

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