"BEYOND THE MYTHS: Mother-Daughter Relationships in Psychology, History, Literature, and Everyday Life"

by Shelley Phillips ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 9, 1996

This hit parade of psychological and mythical views of a basic family bond teems with good intentions but fails to spark with originality or humanistic warmth. In a two-part format that first details the psychological components of the mother-daughter relationship and later offers a form of literary self-help called ""bibliotherapy,"" Phillips, director of the Foundation for Child and Youth Studies in Australia, aims for a practical book that will help those ""wanting to build good relationships."" But it is too sober and familiar to touch readers seeking help. Book One, ""The Psychology of Mother-Daughter Relationships,"" is wide-ranging but a bit tired, with topics such as ""The Snow White Syndrome"" and ""Guilt and Super Mum""; the central villain is a patriarchal society. A discussion of feminist psychology (Freud, Chodorow, Gilligan, among others) equally lacks innovation. In addition, Phillips's sketchy case studies bring little life to the work; they are used mainly to illustrate a point, not to introduce someone for readers to learn from. (It is also possible that the long spray of Emmas, Beatrices, and Ediths discussing ""Mum"" may be too British for a country used to Mom and kids named Ashley and Tiffany.) In general, the subjects in Book Two, ""Retrieving Our Heritage,"" are fresher and more engagingly presented: matrilineal societies, matriarchies, analyses of the characters in Austen, Eliot, and Bront‰, among other subjects. An ambitious work that attempts a melding of psychological/literary studies and self-help psychology but ends up caught between the cracks, succeeding fully at neither.

Pub Date: July 9, 1996

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 464

Publisher: Penguin

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1996

Categories: NONFICTION