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Summary
Summary
In this lyrical and deeply moving memoir, one of America's most revered actresses weaves stories of her adventures and travels with her mother, while reflecting on the beautiful spirit that persists even in the face of her mother's struggle with Alzheimer's disease.
Marcia Gay Harden knew at a young age that her life would be anything but ordinary. One of five lively children born to two Texas natives--Beverly, a proper Dallas lady, and Thad, a young naval officer--she always had a knack for storytelling, role-playing, and adventure. As a military family, the Hardens moved often, and their travels eventually took them to Yokohama, off the coast of Japan, during the Vietnam War era. It was here that Beverly, amid the many challenges of raising her family abroad, found her own self-expression in ikebana, the ancient Japanese art of flower arranging.
Using the philosophy of ikebana as her starting point, Marcia Gay Harden intertwines the seasons of her mother's life with her own journey from precocious young girl to budding artist in New York City to Academy Award-winning actress. With a razor-sharp wit, as well as the kind of emotional honesty that has made her performances resonate with audiences worldwide, Marcia captures the joys and losses of life even as her precious mother gracefully strives to maintain her identity while coming to grips with Alzheimer's disease.
Powerful and incredibly stirring, The Seasons of My Mother illustrates the unforgettable vulnerability and beauty of motherhood, as Marcia does what Beverly can no longer do: she remembers.
Author Notes
Marcia Gay Harden is an actress of the stage, screen, and television. She is also an author, an advocate for Alzheimer's research, a gardener, and a potter. She lives in Los Angeles and New York with her three children, two cats, and a dog. The fish stays in LA. Learn more from TheOfficialMarciaGayHarden.com and follow her on Twitter @MGH_8.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
The devotion and heartbreak of a loving mother-daughter relationship are captured with affection and precision in this graceful memoir. Harden, an Academy Award-winning actress (Pollock), began writing the life story of her mother, Beverly, alongside her own after Beverly's 2011 Alzheimer's diagnosis. Beverly was passionate about ikebana (the ancient art of Japanese flower arrangement), and, in Harden's telling, both women led relatively ordinary lives: they married, had children, found meaning in travel, and took joy in family. She narrates the story by seasons of her mother's life, describing her essence in each one (in spring, "my mother is a brightly ribboned maypole"). Descriptions of ikebana arrangements tell Beverly's story: a military wife with five children who grew into a self-directed woman, her strength is "like a willow branch. Bendable, flexible, yet unbreakable." Harden is optimistic in the face of Alzheimer's: "When all is said and done-even without memory-what still exists is love." The connection between daughter and mother becomes even richer during "the great migration of age," when "the children become the caregivers." Harden delivers a love letter to her mother, in which the extraordinary elements of her ordinary life shine through. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Alzheimer's is a thief. The disease steals people's memories away, until they no longer have the thread of their life to hold on to. But in this poignant, beautiful memoir, actor Harden restores the narrative of her mother's life. As the wife of a naval officer and mother of five, Beverly had her share of adventures. While living in Japan, she discovered the art of ikebana, a type of flower arranging focused on achieving balance. She would go on to become an accomplished practitioner and teacher of ikebana, but when mother and daughter begin to plan a flower-arranging television show, the thief of memory ruthlessly cuts in. Replete with emotionally resonant scenes, humor, and tales of Harden's own journey as an actor, The Seasons of My Mother is both inspirational and devastating, a touching tribute to a remarkable woman. Harden may have put it best when, accepting her Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in the 2000 film Pollock, she thanked her father for teaching me how to soldier through tough situations, and Mom for showing me how to do it gracefully. --Thoreson, Bridget Copyright 2018 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
WE'RE barreling toward summer, with long drives and leisure hours ahead. It's the time of year when friends who know I'm an audiobook nut ask for suggestions. Podcasts offer more flash and dazzle, but I still love the long arc of books "on tape" as an antidote to the shattered attention span of a Twitter-fied society. Recommendations can be tricky (unless the friend hasn't heard my recent favorite, Amor Towles's wonderful novel "A Gentleman in Moscow," read with wry sadness and perfect comic timing by Nicholas Guy Smith. You're welcome). What follows is an eclectic list of audiobooks that might provide ideas for your next summer drive. LET ME LIE, by Clare Mackintosh. Read by Gemma Whelan. (Penguin Audio; 11 hours, 56 minutes.) Ideal listener: Mystery addicts. Ideal trip: Long drives in the countryside, preferably across moors. The mystery writer Clare Mackintosh's first book, "I Let You Go," won an enthusiastic reception when it was published in 2016, and she has become known for her solid descriptions of police work, her previous profession. This third novel opens with Anna Johnson trapped in a fog of grief over the loss of her parents, who committed suicide at the same seaside cliff, months apart. But were they suicides? Is there a paranormal angle? Things are not as they seem. The twists and turns provide adequate entertainment, but Mackintosh plods until the last scenes of the book. The most satisfying thread concerns the private life of Murray Mackenzie, a retired detective who becomes involved in Anna's case, and who cares for a mentally ill wife. Their story alone would make a fine novel, even without the suicides. Or were they murders? The audiobook's narrator, Gemma Whelan (who also plays Yara Greyjoy on "Game of Thrones"), goes for an even, steady delivery that suggests the protagonist may be a bit slow on the uptake. Her measured tone further hints at her knowledge that, while this book is a mystery, it is no thriller. THE SUN DOES SHINE, by Anthony Ray Hinton. Read by Kevin R. Free. (Macmillan Audio; 9 hours, 11 minutes.) Ideal listener: Anyone interested in wrongful incarceration and racial justice. Ideal trip: To Montgomery, Ala., to see the new National Memorial for Peace and Justice. Anthony Ray Hinton spent nearly three decades behind bars for murders he did not commit, railroaded through the legal system and landing on death row. When Bryan Stevenson, the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative and the man Hinton calls "God's best lawyer," finally won his release, Hinton's tearful statement as he left the prison was, "The sun does shine." How Hinton survived those long years is a story of resilience and imagination, of faith and the support of his mother and friends. He speaks of his rage over his conviction, and of ultimately coming to forgive those who wronged him - including an inept defense lawyer and the prosecutor who locked him away even though the gun supposedly used in the crimes (which belonged to Hinton's mother) had not been fired in years, among other obvious flaws in the case. "They were a shameful lot of sad men, and I prayed for their souls." The actor Kevin R. Free performs this work with flashes of anger cast over a deep humility, and captures the sense of humor that Hinton was, incredibly, able to hold on to during his long years in solitary confinement - his affability could get even prison guards to smile. This is a story that enrages and inspires. COMMON GROUND, by Justin Trudeau. Read by Colm Feore. (Audible Studios; 8 hours, 5 minutes.) Ideal listener: All those people who said they'd move to Canada if Donald Trump was elected. Ideal trip: That drive to Prince Edward Island. Justin Trudeau published this election memoir in 2014 on his way to becoming prime minister of Canada. As such, it has many of the flaws endemic to these hardcover sales brochures. Even so, it's not every national leader who writes about his tattoos, or his time in the boxing ring, or snowboarding. A celebrity since birth - the son of a groundbreaking prime minister and a flamboyant mother who struggles with bipolar disorder - Trudeau shares an engaging life story that would be worth reading whatever his aims. But it's worth noting that "Common Ground" was written for a Canadian audience, so American listeners are going to have less familiarity with the politics of our northern neighbors; he assumes we are passionate about national issues like the 1992 Charlottetown Accord. You might Google. Or not. Trudeau reads an introduction to the book himself, but leaves the rest of the text to the capable Colm Feore, who gets across the author's essential likability and youthful energy. He seems, at times, not to know whether Trudeau's words should be performed as a political stump speech or an earnest sermon, but that is not surprising, since the prime minister's tone wobbles from one mode to the other, with a smidgen of TED Talk thrown in. FAILURE IS AN OPTION, by H. Jon Benjamin. Read by the author. (Penguin Audio; 4 hours, 58 minutes.) Ideal listener: Fans. Ideal trip: Long drives without the kids in the car. H. Jon Benjamin is best known as a voice actor in two animated series, "Archer" and "Bob's Burgers." He is, in other words, a successful purveyor of comedy. But he is also, by his own admission, a schlub. He frames this "attempted memoir" as a "polemic in favor of failure." He does not advise absolute, crushing failure, but appropriately lowered expectations that let us accept our limitations. "The task at hand is to bring failure into your life, accept it, and then find the right amount that suits you." With this facetious self-help framework in place, he runs through a string of hit-ormiss anecdotes about, for example, the sexual threesome he didn't actually end up taking part in, and the fajitas that he, a very bad waiter, could not deliver to tables while they were still sizzling. How hard you'll laugh at these stories will depend on whether you find things like colitis and diarrhea funny. I didn't think I would. I was wrong. I am ashamed to say that his entirely gross and unprintable recollection of driving from LAX Airport to Pasadena and unsuccessfully fighting off the effects of a colitis flare-up had me laughing out loud. Of course, it's that voice. SEASONS OF MY MOTHER, by Marcia Gay Harden. Read by the author. (Simon & Schuster Audio; 8 hours, 34 minutes.) Ideal listener: Fans, but also anyone with family members who suffer from dementia. Ideal trip: Solo, elegiac wanderings. Marcia Gay Harden, best known for her roles in films like "Mystic River," "Miller's Crossing" and "Pollock," opens this partmemoir, part-tribute to her mother by describing a different book the two had been collaborating on before Beverly Harden developed Alzheimer's. The book was going to be about ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arranging that became an enormous part of Beverly's life after her naval officer husband's tour of duty in Japan. The disease, and other tragedies in the women's lives, stole the project away. But flowers and their meaning run through this intergenerational story, organized around the seasons and the blooms they bring to mind, Marcia's childhood and her sometimes-spiky relationship with her parents. The description of her mother's drift into the limbo of Alzheimer's will be familiar to anyone dealing with a family member who has dementia, but the author sees through what has been lost. "When all is said and done - even without memory - what still exists is love." There is beauty here, and tragedy, though the prose can be, forgive me, flowery. But as an actor, Harden uses the persuasive strength of her voice to inhabit every line. JOHN schwartz is a climate change reporter for The Times and the author of "This Year I Put My Financial Life in Order."
Kirkus Review
An Oscar-winning actress pays tribute to her mother.When Harden's mother began to show signs of Alzheimer's disease, Harden decided to try to capture her memories before they were gone. In this soulful memoir, she pays homage to the woman who raised her. She tells stories from her earliest childhood days to the present and emphasizes the beliefs and values her mother instilled in her. Harden narrates chronologically, using the seasons as metaphors for the various stages in life. Chronicling her early life, she describes how her father's work in the Navy required the family to move around, including stops in California, Greece, and Japan. While they were living in Japan, her mother learned the Japanese art of flower arranging, ikebana, an artistic method of flower placement that incorporates three principle ideas: heaven, earth, and man. Ikebana was clearly Harden's mother's passion, and the author skillfully blends in descriptions of the flower arrangements her mother made and the classes she taught on ikebana. She offers tales of how her mother gently encouraged her to audition for a play, which began her successful acting career; of going to the Academy Awards; and of traveling through New Zealand with her mom instead of her boyfriend. It's abundantly clear that her mother was there for Harden through the good and the bad, so the knowledge that those memories no longer exist for her mother are especially heartbreaking. In keeping with the author's flower and gardening motif, she describes her mother's condition as "a weed run wild, slowly choking the path to memory." One of her few points of solace is the fact that her mother "has somehow managed to keep [her dignity]. Her appreciation of beauty remains as a purifier for her spirit."Praise, love, and honor all play roles in this respectful, highly affectionate memoir about a spirited mother-daughter relationship. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Excerpts
Excerpts
The Seasons of My Mother Prologue: My mother's flower path Excerpted from The Seasons of My Mother: A Memoir of Love, Family, and Flowers by Marcia Gay Harden All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
Table of Contents
| Prologue: My mother's flower path | p. 1 |
| Spring | |
| My mother is a brightly ribboned maypole | p. 19 |
| My mother is a crescent moon | p. 43 |
| My mother holds me like Mary holds Jesus | p. 67 |
| Summer | |
| My mother flies with Superwoman | p. 83 |
| My mother is an orange hibiscus in a brown coffee cup | p. 99 |
| My mother is a miraculous bamboo | p. 121 |
| Fall | |
| My mother is a driftwood ballerina | p. 147 |
| My mother is a bottle of extra virgin olive oil | p. 159 |
| My mother is a silver-wrapped piece of Wrigley's Spearmint chewing gum | p. 189 |
| Winter | |
| My mother is a Harry Winston diamond | p. 213 |
| My mother is a star navigator | p. 247 |
| My mother is an Easter Bunny In a white confectioner's egg | p. 293 |
| Epilogue | p. 311 |
| Acknowledgments | p. 323 |
