The Subject of Our Lives: Thirteen San Francisco Women Tell Their Stories

These touching short stories left me wanting to know more about the writers, but also reflecting on my own past and future. Well written, sometimes funny and sometimes sad, this book would make a wonderful gift for sisters, moms, grandmothers and friends. Highly satisfying read!

Though these writers have in common their roots in San Francisco and their participation in a writers' group of long standing, each of their voices is distinct. The authors bring to their experiences as girls, sisters, wives, mothers, grandparents, and professionals- in other words, as modern American women - an array of attitudes unique to each of them. Some of these pieces are humorous, some poignant, some even painful, but each illuminates a significant moment or event that will provoke readers to pause and reflect upon moments in their own livesthat might otherwise have gone unacknowledged. An engaging and delightful collection.

Every piece in this collection delights, but several stand out: Sue Renfrew's "Cycle's End"--the life of a washing machine reflects the life of its owner--Margaret Gault's "How To Be Married to a Lawyer and Still Be Happy"--we learn how to win arguments against our husbands no matter what they do for a living--and Rosemary Patton's "The Library"--the story of a daughter helping an elderly mother to dismantle a library of 5,000 books before she moves to a retirement home. Every woman will identify with the life experiences described in this book.