Gwendoline Riley

A hostile mother-daughter relationship stands at the center of this astonishing, blackly humorous novel by the acclaimed author of First Love. Helen Grant is a mystery to her daughter. An extrovert with few friends who has sought intimacy in the wrong places, a twice-divorced mother of two now living alone surrounded by her memories, Helen (known to her acquaintances as “Hen”) has always haunted Bridget. Now, Bridget is an academic in her forties. She sees Helen once a year, and considers the problem to be contained. As she looks back on their tumultuous relationship—the performances and small deceptions—she tries to reckon with the cruelties inflicted on both sides. But when Helen makes it clear that she wants more, it seems an old struggle will have to be replayed. From the prize-winning author of First Love, My Phantoms is a bold, heart-stopping portrayal of a failed familial bond, which brings humor, subtlety, and new life to the difficult terrain of mothers and daughters.

My Phantoms

Stephen Schenkenberg

My mother loved rules. She loved rules in codes in fixed expectations. I want to say — as a dog loves an airborne stick.

When I think of her now, I think that's what I see, or feel, most of all. Her keyed-up look: fixed on something; fas- tened on something. A horrible persistence. A sort of mulish innocence. 

She was mulish, when she wasn't completely biddable, and cach mode always at precisely the wrong time. Like a mimes recalcitrant prop: the door that wouldn't give until it did and sent you sprawling.

My Phantoms quotes

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