When women were birds : fifty-four variations on voice
(Book)

The author's mother told her that the journals she was leaving must not be opened until after death. Her mother was one of a large Mormon clan in northern Utah who developed cancer as a result of the nuclear testing in nearby Utah. It was a shock to the author to discover that her mother had kept journals. But not as much of a shock as what she found when the time came to read them. In fifty-four chapters that unfold like a series of yoga poses, each with its own logic and beauty, the author creates a lyrical and caring meditation of the mystery of her mother's journals, and what it means to have a voice beyond a selfless existence informed by children and a husband.