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Items of interest concerning Hawthorne Books and its authors

The End of Eve: A Memoir Looking for the Light,” by Alison Barker for LA Review of Books

08 Apr 2014|

Ariel Gore has written extensively on the cultural and political aspects of motherhood. She is the founder of the recently relaunched Hip Mama Magazine, founded in 1993 and credited with launching the “alternative” parenting movement — one that talks back to traditional, two-parent, heteronormative familial units. Her Hip Mama Survival Guide encapsulated the ethics of the magazine in how-to book form. An award-winning journalist, she is also the author of seven books that span fiction, memoir, and nonfiction.

Which is to say that The End of Eve was accomplished by an experienced journalist and writer across genre — her prose is both eloquent and spare. Gore is an expert at plunging into the sensory specifics of a narrative moment and staying only long enough for the characters to have a compelling exchange — plus, she never wastes a detail of description that doesn’t resonate on a larger thematic level. The memoir’s recurring images and seamless transitions in time reflect her prowess at integrating scenes into a book-length arc. Within the long period of taking care of her mother, whose behavior is erratic and confounding, Gore manages to build suspense around her own impending breakup and the budding hope of new love on the horizon. Yet she doesn’t stake an inordinate amount of emphasis on any one narrative: instead, she keeps her focus on what peace of mind she is able to win and keep for herself — as a daughter of abuse, yes, but mostly as a person who takes responsibility for inventing her life.

Though the prose, itself, is clear and succinct, Gore doesn’t simplify: rather, she admits to her failings and ambivalence, and acknowledges the contradictions and inconsistencies in her life. For example, in New Mexico, she buys a house — because it makes financial sense and to satisfy Eve — except she finds she cannot actually live there with her difficult mother, and winds up renting a cottage for herself and hiring home health aides for Eve. To care for her mother without compromising her own mental health requires an excess of financial burden.

To read the entire review, go to LA Review of Books.