It Hit Me Like a Ton of Bricks: A Memoir of a Mother and Daughter

by Catherine Lloyd Burns

Book Overview

Life is a series of losses. I've decided to be very Zen about it. I have lost two husbands, my parents, my brother, countless friends; it is just one loss after another. You might as well get used to it." So muses the author's mother in this poignant and humorous memoir about mothers and daughters. ? Loss is a way of life for both Catherine and her mother. But where it made the daughter ravenous for contact, it made the mother lose her appetite for...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0865477086
• ISBN13: 9780865477087
• Release Date: April 2006
• Publisher: North Point Press
• Length: 228 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.8" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Unexpected surprise

I didn't know what to expect when I purchased this book... I liked the premise, I enjoy memoirs (especially of the mother/daughter variety) and the author seemed interesting. I devoured it in about two sittings and highly recommend this book! Ms. Burns writes with such honesty, and her descriptions of emotions many times had me going back and re-reading certain lines thinking "Yes! That's exactly it!" I'd love to read more from this gifted author... perhaps a follow-up to hear how her mother and daughter are doing these days...?

It Hit me Like a Ton of Bricks

This is the author's first book and it is truly an amazing biography. In fact after reading it I purchased a copy for each of my (grown) daughters! It's an important book in that it depicts the tug and pull between mothers and daughters as they grow in their relationships with each other. It's real; it shows the pain and the worry and the acceptance of their quirks. I especially love their honesty of feelings even when things aren't "pretty". It's a beautiful story; I hope the author continues to write. Her sensitivity and depth are striking.

The perfect mother's day gift - and then some!

I gave this book to my mom for mother's day, and it was even better than expected. Burns is a WONDERFUL writer, with great images and a strong eye for detail, and the autobiography is powerful, heartwrenching and moving. Both Mom and I loved it -- and then we shared it with all 3 of Mom's sisters, who are also mothers, who then shared it with their children (also mothers). Not a bad review in the bunch. One of the best books I've read in a long time -- I've even considered writing directly to the author (like some crazed fan) to tell her to PLEASE write more books!

so honest, so funny, so....well, it hit me like a ton of bricks......

Catherine Burns is a terrific writer....I root for her in this memoir as I relate to her journey as a daughter, sister, wife, mother, and well, a female person struggling to love, and be loved....and ultimately accept herself as she attempts to win the acceptance of her mother. I never worry about this woman.....her honesty, and humor always keeps her from going under----she is too smart, witty, and observant to lose the game!!! a really fresh voice.

Captivating, riviting and magnificent candid memoir

I could not put this book down once I began to read the painfully honest, poignant but ultimately fasinating love story Ms. Burns writes about her Mother and her own Daughter. I highly recommend this book.