Description
"ONeil manages to explore the ravages of her mother's life with wisdom and tenderness..." -- Joan Cadham, Montreal Review of Books, 2004
About the authors
Huguette O'Neil is a well-known independent Quebec journalist. A specialist in feature writing, she has published articles in La Presse, Le Devoir, Chatelaine, and L'Actualité. Her works include Fascinante Nelly (1996) and Propos sur la Vie (1987). In the late seventies, she served as Director of Information for the Quebec Council on the Status of Women and was responsible for the changes to the Quebec government's policy on maternity leave. She lives in Lennoxville.
Editorial Reviews
"In a book with a few pages, Huguette ONeil packs a wallop, delving into the complexities of mother-daughter relationships, the sociopolitical climate of Quebec, and bares her own soul in the process.... She exposes her mother with all her warts and makes no attempt to hide her own feelings of guilt, and at times annoyance, with her mother, striking a chord that resonates with every reader." -- Sharon McCully, The Record, 2004 "By contrasting her mother's powerlessness with her own political activism, ONeil reflects on the social changes that have enabled her to believe in the possibility of modifying the course of womens' destiny. In a series of emotionally charged passages that sporadically disrupt her otherwise dispassionate narrative, ONeil forgives her mother for her submissiveness and recognizes the extent to which the latter's unconditional love was fundamental to her own sense of self-worth." -- U of T Quarterly, Winter 2006