DROPPED THREADS - What We Aren't Told: Starch Salt Chocolate Wine; What Stays in the Family; Notes on a Piece for Carol; Lettuce Turnip and Pea; Casseroles; Hope for the Best - Expect the Worst; Tuck Me In - Redefining Attachment Between Mothers and Sons

The hidden emotional territory of women's lives--from the joys of belly dancing to the agony of caring for a dying child--is revealed in the pages of Dropped Threads: What We Aren't Told. Editors Carol Shields and Marjorie Anderson bring together 34 eclectic and engaging pieces by renowned authors (e.g. Margaret Atwood and Bonnie Burnard) as well as women whose day jobs include politics, child-raising, and cattle ranching. Marni Jackson's "Tuck Me In" is an entertaining account of conflicts with a teenage son who considers shampoo a culturally imposed artifact. Perhaps the most powerful essay is "Edited Version," in which Isla James describes her dying child's last days at home....