My Mother's Pain

Book excerpt: My Mother's Pain explores the progressive nature of cultural abuse and the tragic decisions women bound to such conventions must make in the name of love, often denying and even sacrificing their true selves. This is also a story of healing, rebirth, and reunion. Twenty-five years ago, Jennifer Thompson made a decision that would change the course of her life, and hopefully, protect her unborn child from the ravages of cultural abuse. A phone call from her daughter shatters the stitched-together memories of lost love and her mother's pain that make up Jennifer's fragile reality. Hours later, dressed in her nightgown and raincoat, wearing the red heels previously hidden for two decades in her garage, Jennifer sits in her car in front of a small house in Erie, Pennsylvania. She has driven straight through from San Francisco, but in her fugue state, she doesn't know where she is or why. My Mother's Pain follows Jennifer's journey as she unravels the threads of truth within her carefully constructed, now shattered, world. Grief denied, love lost, childhood memories, and an unexpected reunion are woven into the lives of the current owners of Jennifer's childhood home.