About My Mother
A Message from Mike Rowe, the Dirty Jobs Just to be clear, About My Mother is a book about my grandmother, written by my mother. That’s not to say it’s not about my mother—it is. In fact, About My Mother is as much about my mother as it is about my grandmother. In that sense, it’s really a book about “mothers.”
…It is not, however, a book written by me. True, I did write the foreword. But it doesn’t mean I’ve written a book about my mother. I haven’t. Nor does it mean my mother’s book is about her son. It isn’t. It’s about my grandmother. And my mother. Just to be clear.—Mike
A love letter to mothers everywhere, About My Mother will make you laugh and cry—and see yourself in its reflection. Peggy Rowe’s story of growing up as the daughter of Thelma Knobel is filled with warmth and humor. But Thelma could be your mother—there’s a Thelma in everyone’s life. Shes the person taking charge—the one who knows instinctively how things should be. Today Thelma would be described as an alpha personality, but while growing up, her daughter Peggy saw her as a dictator—albeit a benevolent, loving one. They clashed from the beginning—Peggy, the horse-crazy tomboy, and Thelma, the genteel-yet-still-controlling mother, committed to raising two refined, ladylike daughters. Good luck.
When major league baseball came to town in the early 1950s and turned sophisticated Thelma into a crazed Baltimore Orioles groupie, nobody was more surprised and embarrassed than Peggy. Life became a series of compromises—Thelma tolerating a daughter who pitched manure and galloped the countryside, while Peggy learned to tolerate the whacky Orioles fan who threw her underwear at the television, shouted insults at umpires, and lived by the orange-and-black schedule taped to the refrigerator door.
Sometimes, we’re more alike than we know.
And in case you’re wondering, Peggy knows a thing or two about dirty jobs herself…-Goodreads
Title: About My Mother
Series: Standalone
Author: Peggy Rowe
Page Count: 192
Genre: Non-Fiction / Autobiography
Rating: 4.0/5.0
Date Read: July 30th, 2022
Review
This was a quick easy read. Definitely a nice break from my typical science fiction and fantasy epic reads. I originally heard about this book from the author's son Mike Rowe. I can't recall if it was from his podcast or somewhere on social media. But being a huge fan of his and hearing multiple stories about his parents through his eyes, I felt I had to pick this up and give it a try.
It truly is an easy read as long as you are into autobiographies. The writing style is smooth as Peggy tells us about her early life and her relationship most with her mother. They were complete opposites as society would see them other than the amount of love they had for their family.
I found it heart warming and hilarious how obsessed with Peggy's mother was with Baseball when she was otherwise so strongly described as the traditional lady! But that did show a chink in her armor if you think about it. She was constantly trying to raise both of her daughters to be ladies as well.
Peggy might be a lady as she became an adult but as the book describes she was definitely a Tomboy at heart as a child. She had such a fascination with horses and luckily it was something her mother began to allow an nurture. Peggy certainly had some adventures with horses in her younger years. But as she became an adult and began to build her own family, and the trust her mother had to pass traditions to her, was again heart warming to read.
I think most of us can connect to aspects of this book and life between these two whether we have children of our own or not. We always want what's best for those we love and that is what I take most away from this book.
Scoring
Pacing 4.0 / 5.0
Worldbuilding 4.0 / 5.0
Character Development 4.0 / 5.0
