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This Is Your Mother: A Memoir
From “a writer who’s absolutely going places” (Roxane Gay), a remarkable, inventive debut memoir about a mother-daughter relationship across cycles of poverty, separation, and illness, exploring how we forge identity in the face of imminent loss.
Growing up, Erika Simpson’s mother loomed large, almost biblical in her life. A daughter of sharecroppers, middle child of ten, her origin story served as a kind of Genesis. Her departure from home and a cheating husband, pursuing higher education along the way a kind of Exodus. Her rules for survival, often repeated like the Ten Commandments, guided Erika’s own journey into adulthood. And the most important rule? Throughout her life, Sallie Carol preached the power of a testimony—which often proved useful in talking her way out of a bind with bill collectors.
But where does a mother’s story end and a daughter’s begin? In this brave, illuminating memoir, Erika offers a joint recollection of their lives as they navigate times of poverty and stability, separation and togetherness, illness and remission. Her mother’s uncanny ability to endure Job-like trials and manifest New Testament–style miracles made her seem invincible. But while those who raise us may start out as gods in our lives, through her mother’s final months and fifth battle with cancer, Erika captures the moment you realize that parents are just people.
Weaving together a dual timeline and elements from both scripture and pop culture, Erika explores how the lessons, dreams, and patterns we inherit influence our future, for better and worse. Powerful, moving, and unforgettable, This Is Your Mother is a gorgeously rendered story of a mother’s life through a daughter’s eyes as she navigates through grief to a place of clarity where she can see who she is without her mom—and because of her.
Growing up, Erika Simpson’s mother loomed large, almost biblical in her life. A daughter of sharecroppers, middle child of ten, her origin story served as a kind of Genesis. Her departure from home and a cheating husband, pursuing higher education along the way a kind of Exodus. Her rules for survival, often repeated like the Ten Commandments, guided Erika’s own journey into adulthood. And the most important rule? Throughout her life, Sallie Carol preached the power of a testimony—which often proved useful in talking her way out of a bind with bill collectors.
But where does a mother’s story end and a daughter’s begin? In this brave, illuminating memoir, Erika offers a joint recollection of their lives as they navigate times of poverty and stability, separation and togetherness, illness and remission. Her mother’s uncanny ability to endure Job-like trials and manifest New Testament–style miracles made her seem invincible. But while those who raise us may start out as gods in our lives, through her mother’s final months and fifth battle with cancer, Erika captures the moment you realize that parents are just people.
Weaving together a dual timeline and elements from both scripture and pop culture, Erika explores how the lessons, dreams, and patterns we inherit influence our future, for better and worse. Powerful, moving, and unforgettable, This Is Your Mother is a gorgeously rendered story of a mother’s life through a daughter’s eyes as she navigates through grief to a place of clarity where she can see who she is without her mom—and because of her.
224 pages, Hardcover
Published May 6, 2025
41 people are currently reading
6969 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 83 reviews
February 2, 2025
This book serves as a reminder that the memoir is not a static form. Simpson expertly tells her story with a fresh voice and truly compelling narrative choices. I will be thinking about this one for some time. Tens tens tens!!!!
May 28, 2025
4.5 stars
A memoir sticks with you when the author is willing to open up about their life. Erika J. Simpson laid it all out there which I respect. She has a complicated relationship with her mother and she broached the subject with honesty, not shying away from the uncomfortable parts.
While reading THIS IS YOUR MOTHER, I couldn't help but be reminded of Kiese Laymon's memoir, HEAVY. Both writers have Black mothers in the educational field. As adults they are called on to financially support these women even though they barely have enough money to get by themselves. There's more comparisons to be made but my point is each writer shared the tough aspects while recognizing some of the good in their mothers that helped get them to where they are today.
Highly recommend checking this book out if you enjoy nonfiction or books that explore race, poverty, and family dynamics.
Thank you Scribner for sending me a free advance copy! All thoughts expressed are my honest opinion.
A memoir sticks with you when the author is willing to open up about their life. Erika J. Simpson laid it all out there which I respect. She has a complicated relationship with her mother and she broached the subject with honesty, not shying away from the uncomfortable parts.
While reading THIS IS YOUR MOTHER, I couldn't help but be reminded of Kiese Laymon's memoir, HEAVY. Both writers have Black mothers in the educational field. As adults they are called on to financially support these women even though they barely have enough money to get by themselves. There's more comparisons to be made but my point is each writer shared the tough aspects while recognizing some of the good in their mothers that helped get them to where they are today.
Highly recommend checking this book out if you enjoy nonfiction or books that explore race, poverty, and family dynamics.
Thank you Scribner for sending me a free advance copy! All thoughts expressed are my honest opinion.
January 30, 2025
I’ve never been much of a memoir person, and I’m not sure if it was the book itself or Ashlie’s audio messages that made me love it (it was both)! It grew on me really quickly and the ending tore me apart. Thank you, Ashlie, for sharing a book I wouldn’t have picked on my own.
May 17, 2025
Erika J. Simpson's inventive memoir is a touching tribute to her late mother, who never wavered in her faith despite the challenges of poverty, single parenthood, and cancer. From its first lines onward, this debut invites readers to get to know and admire Sallie Carol, a larger-than-life figure who died in 2013. The dual timeline toggles between the final five months of her mother's life and Simpson's memories of her own childhood in Decatur, Georgia and early adulthood in Chicago. Incorporating various formats and voices, the book has verve and lightness that contrast with the family's struggles. Sallie Carol's piety is clear from the language Simpson uses, with chapters titled "Genesis" and "Exodus" and her sayings presented like scripture. The recurrent use of second-person narration draws readers in. (More of a 3.5, really.)
See my full review at BookBrowse. (See also my reading list of memoirs about mothers.)
See my full review at BookBrowse. (See also my reading list of memoirs about mothers.)
May 17, 2025
A heartfelt read. Shari was such a force. Erika was very lucky to have her as a mother. 🫶🏻
May 11, 2025
Unputdownable.
July 5, 2025
Powerful, emotional, heartbreaking and still hopeful. ❤️
May 4, 2025
I received an ARC of this memoir in a Goodreads Giveaway. And here is my honest review…
Fact or Fiction?
I’ve never read a memoir that touched me quite so deeply as this one. I’ve never hoped that an author would go on to conquer the literary world with her beautifully poetic and heartfelt recollection of her life with her mother. It touched my soul and her words became so much more than just someone’s story. I felt the despair, the goals, the persistence, the faith, the fear, but most of all, the LOVE.
This book is soon to release on May 6, 2025, and I strongly suggest you pick it up. The writing is original and very effective. It hit at the heart time after time. Wishing Ms. Erika all the success in the world. These were all FACTS.
Fact or Fiction?
I’ve never read a memoir that touched me quite so deeply as this one. I’ve never hoped that an author would go on to conquer the literary world with her beautifully poetic and heartfelt recollection of her life with her mother. It touched my soul and her words became so much more than just someone’s story. I felt the despair, the goals, the persistence, the faith, the fear, but most of all, the LOVE.
This book is soon to release on May 6, 2025, and I strongly suggest you pick it up. The writing is original and very effective. It hit at the heart time after time. Wishing Ms. Erika all the success in the world. These were all FACTS.
April 28, 2025
I was elated to receive an ARC copy via GoodReads Giveaway! I have recently started entering and this was my first win! Sometimes I swear the right books just find me at the right time. It is so special.
I would give this 10 stars if I could. No clue how anyone would rate this less than 5 stars but —
I am a 30 something NC girly too. I moved a few times. I experienced loss and traumatic times. At a young age, I knew there were things going on in my home that my peers were not experiencing…
I am the younger sibling too; my brother was 8.5 years older and he and I were different raised by a “different” Mom (and Dad). Like this story, mine tried her best. Was it always rainbows and sunshine? No. Do I know without a doubt she loved me and would give all she had and more for me? Yes.
This was emotional, funny, sad, happy, all of the things I want in a book. I teared up multiple times. Highly recommend. Wishing this author much success and would hands down read anything else by sweet Janie. XO
I would give this 10 stars if I could. No clue how anyone would rate this less than 5 stars but —
I am a 30 something NC girly too. I moved a few times. I experienced loss and traumatic times. At a young age, I knew there were things going on in my home that my peers were not experiencing…
I am the younger sibling too; my brother was 8.5 years older and he and I were different raised by a “different” Mom (and Dad). Like this story, mine tried her best. Was it always rainbows and sunshine? No. Do I know without a doubt she loved me and would give all she had and more for me? Yes.
This was emotional, funny, sad, happy, all of the things I want in a book. I teared up multiple times. Highly recommend. Wishing this author much success and would hands down read anything else by sweet Janie. XO
May 30, 2025
Actual Rating: 3.5 stars
I’m really glad this memoir exists!!! This is what I mean when I say I want more precision from Black Southern writers. When speaking about precision in African media, Dipo Faloyin said “What is lost in all this are extraordinary stories of the remarkably ordinary. From the world’s second largest region, with thousands of languages and individual ethnicities and histories, you can only imagine how many tales there are still to tell.” The South is one of the largest regions in the U.S., and it too deserves more extraordinary stories of the remarkably ordinary.
At its best, This Is Your Mother reaches a level of precision that reminded me of my favorite(?) novel of 2025, Redwood Court by DéLana R. A. Dameron. Both books take place in understudied parts of the Black South (Decatur, GA and Columbia, SC.) In Erika J. Simpson’s memoir, Decatur is less central than the big city of Atlanta, but no less important to her upbringing.
Decades after “growing up”, Erika is still making sense of her challenging connection to her mother, Sallie Carol Simpson. Sometimes, it feels like Ms. Simpson was cast at center stage in this story, even as Erika remains our protagonist. This book is a really keen study of just how connected children can be to their parents, especially in traumatic upbringings where Black families do not have the resources they need to thrive. Even in the adult scenes, we root for Ms. Simpson if only because that means rooting for Erika. Erika’s nervous system is shot through, and deeply bound to her mother’s moods, circumstances, and misfortunes. Every time Ms. Simpson is having a bad day (often due to forces beyond her control), Erika is taken along for the emotional rollercoaster. As a young child, this is literal, as Erika trails behind her mother for heartbreaking evictions, harrowing family arguments, and risky payment schemes. Even as an adult living states away from Ms. Simpson, Erika is tethered to her mother’s wellbeing through hectic phone calls and that all-too-common gut disruption. My heart broke for Erika, her sister Samantha, Ms. Simpson, and Ms. Simpson’s sisters, as bipolar disorder can result in life-altering experiences for an entire family.
I imagine most people will want to finish this in one or two sittings, just because it’s very hard to go through (especially if you have a loved one with similar mental health experiences.) I saw an article that compared the experience of melancholy in This is Your Mother to another memoir set on the same street, Natasha Trethewey’s haunting Memorial Drive. If you’ve read that one already, expect a similar emotional reaction here. Finally, for people interested in housing and planning (particularly in Atlanta), This Is Your Mother would be a great companion to There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America. Erika J. Simpson poignantly shows what the city’s housing crisis has meant for her family’s wellbeing. In doing so, she confirms that many crises planning researchers are just getting around to studying have been impacting poor Black families for a very long time.
In closing, Erika J. Simpson has great potential as a writer and meaningful stories to tell. I’m very mad I missed her book talk in Raleigh a few weeks back, but what can you do when your bestie is graduating from her doctoral program in another city (actually Atlanta, LOL)!!! Thankfully, I feel certain that Erika J. Simpson will be writing more books for many years to come—and I’m excited to read them.
I’m really glad this memoir exists!!! This is what I mean when I say I want more precision from Black Southern writers. When speaking about precision in African media, Dipo Faloyin said “What is lost in all this are extraordinary stories of the remarkably ordinary. From the world’s second largest region, with thousands of languages and individual ethnicities and histories, you can only imagine how many tales there are still to tell.” The South is one of the largest regions in the U.S., and it too deserves more extraordinary stories of the remarkably ordinary.
At its best, This Is Your Mother reaches a level of precision that reminded me of my favorite(?) novel of 2025, Redwood Court by DéLana R. A. Dameron. Both books take place in understudied parts of the Black South (Decatur, GA and Columbia, SC.) In Erika J. Simpson’s memoir, Decatur is less central than the big city of Atlanta, but no less important to her upbringing.
Decades after “growing up”, Erika is still making sense of her challenging connection to her mother, Sallie Carol Simpson. Sometimes, it feels like Ms. Simpson was cast at center stage in this story, even as Erika remains our protagonist. This book is a really keen study of just how connected children can be to their parents, especially in traumatic upbringings where Black families do not have the resources they need to thrive. Even in the adult scenes, we root for Ms. Simpson if only because that means rooting for Erika. Erika’s nervous system is shot through, and deeply bound to her mother’s moods, circumstances, and misfortunes. Every time Ms. Simpson is having a bad day (often due to forces beyond her control), Erika is taken along for the emotional rollercoaster. As a young child, this is literal, as Erika trails behind her mother for heartbreaking evictions, harrowing family arguments, and risky payment schemes. Even as an adult living states away from Ms. Simpson, Erika is tethered to her mother’s wellbeing through hectic phone calls and that all-too-common gut disruption. My heart broke for Erika, her sister Samantha, Ms. Simpson, and Ms. Simpson’s sisters, as bipolar disorder can result in life-altering experiences for an entire family.
I imagine most people will want to finish this in one or two sittings, just because it’s very hard to go through (especially if you have a loved one with similar mental health experiences.) I saw an article that compared the experience of melancholy in This is Your Mother to another memoir set on the same street, Natasha Trethewey’s haunting Memorial Drive. If you’ve read that one already, expect a similar emotional reaction here. Finally, for people interested in housing and planning (particularly in Atlanta), This Is Your Mother would be a great companion to There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America. Erika J. Simpson poignantly shows what the city’s housing crisis has meant for her family’s wellbeing. In doing so, she confirms that many crises planning researchers are just getting around to studying have been impacting poor Black families for a very long time.
In closing, Erika J. Simpson has great potential as a writer and meaningful stories to tell. I’m very mad I missed her book talk in Raleigh a few weeks back, but what can you do when your bestie is graduating from her doctoral program in another city (actually Atlanta, LOL)!!! Thankfully, I feel certain that Erika J. Simpson will be writing more books for many years to come—and I’m excited to read them.
January 20, 2025
Magical memoir by a writer "who’s absolutely going places” (Roxane Gay) and one that allows readers to see a mother through her daughter's eyes. Sallie Carol, the author's mother, was the daughter of sharecroppers and while extremely intelligent often found herself and her children destitute and living on the goodness of her family.
Top Ten Most Anticipated Memoir of 2025 by Publishers Weekly
*I read an advance copy and was not compensated
Top Ten Most Anticipated Memoir of 2025 by Publishers Weekly
*I read an advance copy and was not compensated
October 14, 2025
I simply have no words! I listened to this having been read by the author and it was raw, visceral, and riveting!
A treat to say the least!
A treat to say the least!
December 11, 2025
THIS IS YOUR MOTHER by Erika J. Simpson
A huge thanks to @scribnerbooks @simon.audio and @librofm for my gifted copies.
Where does a Mom’s story stop and her daughter’s begin?
In this deeply moving, down-to-earth memoir, Erika Simpson looks back on the highs and lows of her complicated relationship with her mom: broke years and better ones, goodbyes and homecomings, sickness and surprising comebacks. Sallie Carol was a bit of a contradiction -- highly educated, but not the most financially responsible. Yet despite her financial struggles and repeated health issues, she handled one setback after another. Walking beside her in that last fight, Erika realizes the hard truth: parents aren’t superheroes; they’re just people. Jumping between past and present, Erika shows how the lessons and baggage we inherit shape us, for better or worse.
💭 Fittingly, I started reading this on Mother’s Day and was immediately pulled into Simpson’s heartfelt tribute to the woman who shaped so much of her world. The audiobook, narrated by the author, is personal, honest, and at times, humorous. It’s a beautiful reminder of the powerful, often messy, bond between mothers and daughters.
Memoir lovers will want to add this to their TBR.
📌 Available now!
A huge thanks to @scribnerbooks @simon.audio and @librofm for my gifted copies.
Where does a Mom’s story stop and her daughter’s begin?
In this deeply moving, down-to-earth memoir, Erika Simpson looks back on the highs and lows of her complicated relationship with her mom: broke years and better ones, goodbyes and homecomings, sickness and surprising comebacks. Sallie Carol was a bit of a contradiction -- highly educated, but not the most financially responsible. Yet despite her financial struggles and repeated health issues, she handled one setback after another. Walking beside her in that last fight, Erika realizes the hard truth: parents aren’t superheroes; they’re just people. Jumping between past and present, Erika shows how the lessons and baggage we inherit shape us, for better or worse.
💭 Fittingly, I started reading this on Mother’s Day and was immediately pulled into Simpson’s heartfelt tribute to the woman who shaped so much of her world. The audiobook, narrated by the author, is personal, honest, and at times, humorous. It’s a beautiful reminder of the powerful, often messy, bond between mothers and daughters.
Memoir lovers will want to add this to their TBR.
📌 Available now!
Read
May 6, 2025See full review on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution website: ‘This Is Your Mother,’ a memoir about a complicated mom and her belief in miracles
"Erika J. Simpson writes a compelling scene in her evocative debut memoir “This Is Your Mother” about how a professor dashed her dream of becoming an actor during her freshman year of college. “Acting is a cheap trick,” her professor says after watching Simpson perform an auto-drama depicting her mother’s arrest in a Decatur Walmart when she was 8 years old. “But writing, some things can’t be taught. And you’ve got it, kid.”
At the time, Simpson wanted to be a movie star and was crushed. But after reading her forthright, heartbreaking and stunningly beautiful exploration of her relationship with her mother, it’s easy to agree Simpson is indeed a gifted storyteller..."
https://www.ajc.com/arts-entertainmen...
"Erika J. Simpson writes a compelling scene in her evocative debut memoir “This Is Your Mother” about how a professor dashed her dream of becoming an actor during her freshman year of college. “Acting is a cheap trick,” her professor says after watching Simpson perform an auto-drama depicting her mother’s arrest in a Decatur Walmart when she was 8 years old. “But writing, some things can’t be taught. And you’ve got it, kid.”
At the time, Simpson wanted to be a movie star and was crushed. But after reading her forthright, heartbreaking and stunningly beautiful exploration of her relationship with her mother, it’s easy to agree Simpson is indeed a gifted storyteller..."
https://www.ajc.com/arts-entertainmen...
August 28, 2025
I’ve missed reading memoirs and this was the perfect one to kick start reading memoirs again. The author writes about her mentally ill mother with empathy and understanding but is most relatable with her sense of humor because that’s the fall back on complicated mother-daughter relationships. Some memoirs have 20/20 vision looking back but this one shows that dealing with the mother-daughter relationship continues even after the mother dies.
April 2, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for the eARC!
This book was GORGEOUS!! Simpson is a phenomenal writer, and I loved the different formats she used in this book. It's a beautiful meditation on life and its complexities: grief, family, growing up, poverty, mental illness, overcoming, hope.
The book is not terribly long, but it's just so good. I know it's a book I'll pick up again and again, and I know it will be a help to me when my own mother passes.
I loved the way Simpson spoke about her mother. She didn't shy away from the hard parts or the gritty parts. Or her own emotions about her mother. But she also welcomed you in her world and explained her mother in different ways throughout the book.
I loved her connection to her sister, and I love that Simpson left room for them each to have their own interpretation of their mother.
Truly a one-of-a-kind book, and I can't wait to see what else Simpson writes in the future!
This book was GORGEOUS!! Simpson is a phenomenal writer, and I loved the different formats she used in this book. It's a beautiful meditation on life and its complexities: grief, family, growing up, poverty, mental illness, overcoming, hope.
The book is not terribly long, but it's just so good. I know it's a book I'll pick up again and again, and I know it will be a help to me when my own mother passes.
I loved the way Simpson spoke about her mother. She didn't shy away from the hard parts or the gritty parts. Or her own emotions about her mother. But she also welcomed you in her world and explained her mother in different ways throughout the book.
I loved her connection to her sister, and I love that Simpson left room for them each to have their own interpretation of their mother.
Truly a one-of-a-kind book, and I can't wait to see what else Simpson writes in the future!
May 25, 2025
I saw this author at a recent book festival and moved her book to the top of my TBR. She was full of energy and excitement and kept a picture of her mother nearby. Close friends and relatives were in the audience to support her. I believe her mother was there too.
The memoir is a beautiful telling of the life and relationship she shared with her mother who pushed her way through multiple cancer diagnoses, financial and housing struggles, and mental health problems before her passing in 2013. She was strong-willed and faithful and despite some family friction, her daughters knew she loved them. The story is a mix of humor and pain. At times, it hurt to read it.
The memoir is a beautiful telling of the life and relationship she shared with her mother who pushed her way through multiple cancer diagnoses, financial and housing struggles, and mental health problems before her passing in 2013. She was strong-willed and faithful and despite some family friction, her daughters knew she loved them. The story is a mix of humor and pain. At times, it hurt to read it.
May 18, 2025
Now this is a memoir! An eyes-wide-open look at a mother-daughter relationship. I read it in one fell swoop on Mother's Day, which was perfect, except I'd have been happy to let Erika J. Simpson's voice hang around in my brain a while longer.
The audio production is excellent.
Thank you to Scribner for a free arc of this title for review.
The audio production is excellent.
Thank you to Scribner for a free arc of this title for review.
March 9, 2025
A moving, human portrait of a mother-daughter relationship. It can be so easy for people to talk about their parents in absolutes, yet Simpson writes about her mother so honestly, yet tenderly. I felt so deeply for Simpson as I read about her experiences with housing instability as a child, as well reckoning with the person mother is as she is dying of cancer.
May 20, 2025
Mothers and daughters, oh my,. The relationship can be fraught under any circumstances. Add in divorce, poverty, mental illness, homelessness and more and you are in a toxic stew of love, guilt, fear, family and stress. This memoir captures all of it -- the pride, embarrassment, shame and loyalty of a single mom raising two girls and facing so many obstacles. At times, you may chafe at a grifter sensibility of doing what it takes to keep a roof over their heads, protect the car from the repo man, etc. but this story also shows the grit, determination and faith it takes to keep trying. I think this book will be triggering for some who have experienced some of this in their lives. It is also a quick and authentic read that makes you think twice about all the safety and security we often take for granted.
May 13, 2025
There is no shortage of memoirs (and novels, for that matter) tracing the often rocky landscape of mother-daughter relationships. But Erika J. Simpson's debut memoir blazes its own path through this familiar yet unpredictable realm. She skillfully utilizes several techniques to elevate what could have been a mournful tale of trauma and loss into something far more eloquent and emotionally affecting.
THIS IS YOUR MOTHER is formally inventive and unfolds in two parallel timelines. In one, Simpson recalls her youth in Atlanta, where she struggled to grow up amid the chaos of her mother's instability. Sallie Carol was once a respected teacher, and Simpson's older sister grew up in a fairly settled household, with memories of her mom gainfully employed. However, by the time Simpson was forming her childhood memories, Sallie Carol already had survived one brain tumor that was predicted to kill her. She had descended into financial insecurity and undiagnosed mental illness.
This narrative is interwoven with a second one, which leads ultimately to Sallie Carol's death in an Atlanta hospice facility. By the time she finally succumbs to her illness, she has survived several bouts of cancer and other health issues over the course of her life. So in some ways, Simpson can't quite believe that her mom isn't going to beat the odds just one more time. What she goes through as she comes to terms with the impending loss --- and then the actual loss --- offers a glimpse into complicated grief. Her feelings of emptiness and loss, of a sort of disbelief, are compounded by occasional feelings of relief that never again will she have to worry about her mom, or figure out how to loan her money she doesn't have, or fear that she's going to wind up back in jail.
Simpson --- who has won awards for one of the chapters in the book, which was originally published as a stand-alone essay --- is a sophisticated writer. Although each of these two narrative strands play out roughly chronologically, at times they also wind around one another, with the same relapse or arrest referenced across timelines and giving the impression --- perhaps akin to Simpson's own feelings of always being on the brink of disaster --- that these periods of crisis and chaos have happened over and over again. She also experiments and plays with form in the book, utilizing transcriptions, television screenplays and scripture as inspiration for how she writes some sections.
Scripture is a recurring theme, particularly the ways in which Simpson recalls her mother's aphorisms that continue to guide her way of approaching the world. Despite Sallie Carol's many tumultuous and unsteady periods, what sticks with Simpson is the steadfastness of her desire to do right by her daughters, as well as the permanence of the lessons she instilled in them. "While Mama studied her Bible," Simpson writes, "I studied her, making scriptures from the ways she kept us afloat."
In addition to practical tips like "The money isn't due, due until the fifth of the month," the so-called Book of Sallie Carol contains gems that, one imagines, Simpson and her sister will continue to hold dear because of how far these words and their underlying beliefs took them despite the odds: "Book of Sallie Carol 1.1: Dream big. Beyond limitations, big…dreaming reshapes your reality."
Reviewed by Norah Piehl
THIS IS YOUR MOTHER is formally inventive and unfolds in two parallel timelines. In one, Simpson recalls her youth in Atlanta, where she struggled to grow up amid the chaos of her mother's instability. Sallie Carol was once a respected teacher, and Simpson's older sister grew up in a fairly settled household, with memories of her mom gainfully employed. However, by the time Simpson was forming her childhood memories, Sallie Carol already had survived one brain tumor that was predicted to kill her. She had descended into financial insecurity and undiagnosed mental illness.
This narrative is interwoven with a second one, which leads ultimately to Sallie Carol's death in an Atlanta hospice facility. By the time she finally succumbs to her illness, she has survived several bouts of cancer and other health issues over the course of her life. So in some ways, Simpson can't quite believe that her mom isn't going to beat the odds just one more time. What she goes through as she comes to terms with the impending loss --- and then the actual loss --- offers a glimpse into complicated grief. Her feelings of emptiness and loss, of a sort of disbelief, are compounded by occasional feelings of relief that never again will she have to worry about her mom, or figure out how to loan her money she doesn't have, or fear that she's going to wind up back in jail.
Simpson --- who has won awards for one of the chapters in the book, which was originally published as a stand-alone essay --- is a sophisticated writer. Although each of these two narrative strands play out roughly chronologically, at times they also wind around one another, with the same relapse or arrest referenced across timelines and giving the impression --- perhaps akin to Simpson's own feelings of always being on the brink of disaster --- that these periods of crisis and chaos have happened over and over again. She also experiments and plays with form in the book, utilizing transcriptions, television screenplays and scripture as inspiration for how she writes some sections.
Scripture is a recurring theme, particularly the ways in which Simpson recalls her mother's aphorisms that continue to guide her way of approaching the world. Despite Sallie Carol's many tumultuous and unsteady periods, what sticks with Simpson is the steadfastness of her desire to do right by her daughters, as well as the permanence of the lessons she instilled in them. "While Mama studied her Bible," Simpson writes, "I studied her, making scriptures from the ways she kept us afloat."
In addition to practical tips like "The money isn't due, due until the fifth of the month," the so-called Book of Sallie Carol contains gems that, one imagines, Simpson and her sister will continue to hold dear because of how far these words and their underlying beliefs took them despite the odds: "Book of Sallie Carol 1.1: Dream big. Beyond limitations, big…dreaming reshapes your reality."
Reviewed by Norah Piehl
June 3, 2025
**I don't like rating memoirs but still want to boost. The star rating reflects my reading experience, not content.
A mother's life through her daughter's eyes, through childhood, young adulthood, and in her mother's last days.
Her mother Sallie Carol was a force. A single parent pursuing higher education through cycles of poverty, and several bouts of cancer, her love for her daughters and her faith never wavered.
I loved Erika's writing style, with snippets of scripture-like verses from the Gospel of Sallie Carol, conversations, and Fact or Fiction. I felt like I knew Sallie Carol, like she was my own family.
This book was a tribute to Sallie, but also a look at how the rules and patterns we grow up with are passed on and translated through generations (for better or worse). And what we're left with is what we choose to keep.
“Book of Sallie Carol 1:2: The only things that matter, and the order of their importance, are food and rent. Don't pay no bill before you've eaten. Because how you look sitting around with all the lights on but nothing to eat? You can ignore any gas, electric, or waste bills that come in a white envelope. Those are nudges. Once you get a red letter or final notice, call Customer Service.”
Thanks to Scribner Books for the gifted copy!
A mother's life through her daughter's eyes, through childhood, young adulthood, and in her mother's last days.
Her mother Sallie Carol was a force. A single parent pursuing higher education through cycles of poverty, and several bouts of cancer, her love for her daughters and her faith never wavered.
I loved Erika's writing style, with snippets of scripture-like verses from the Gospel of Sallie Carol, conversations, and Fact or Fiction. I felt like I knew Sallie Carol, like she was my own family.
This book was a tribute to Sallie, but also a look at how the rules and patterns we grow up with are passed on and translated through generations (for better or worse). And what we're left with is what we choose to keep.
“Book of Sallie Carol 1:2: The only things that matter, and the order of their importance, are food and rent. Don't pay no bill before you've eaten. Because how you look sitting around with all the lights on but nothing to eat? You can ignore any gas, electric, or waste bills that come in a white envelope. Those are nudges. Once you get a red letter or final notice, call Customer Service.”
Thanks to Scribner Books for the gifted copy!
May 31, 2025
I can't say I'm one usually for memoirs, but a friend gifted me a copy and I had the time to read it while on vacation. Seemed like the perfect little book to bring along with me, right? Well, perfect little book that knows how to pack a lot of punches. Yet not harshly at all. Simpson is so subtle yet deft with her writing, its no wonder she was encouraged to turn to it for a career. Yet with that power, there is such emotion given the context of the book.
Its interesting to call it a memoir, because it isn't just about the author, but obviously about the relationship with her late mother. Within 200 pages, she was able to encapsulate the beauty and horror of the years that went by. That must take a lot of courage and energy, something I cannot begin to imagine and can only commend her for. There are parts that will have you laughing, then others leave you pondering, and then of course the ones that hit you in the gut with the "feels". Regardless, I think many people from many different backgrounds and ages can learn a lot from this memoir. It really gives perspective on how we value and view relationships, especially familial.
Its interesting to call it a memoir, because it isn't just about the author, but obviously about the relationship with her late mother. Within 200 pages, she was able to encapsulate the beauty and horror of the years that went by. That must take a lot of courage and energy, something I cannot begin to imagine and can only commend her for. There are parts that will have you laughing, then others leave you pondering, and then of course the ones that hit you in the gut with the "feels". Regardless, I think many people from many different backgrounds and ages can learn a lot from this memoir. It really gives perspective on how we value and view relationships, especially familial.
January 6, 2026
A story of mothers, sisters and daughters, race and poverty, being held back by your history, your choices and your genetics. Erika’s mother Sallie Carol preaches the gospel of faith and abundance while living in the paradox of overdue bills, evictions, and sickness. She places a high value on education and has a teaching degree but her education doesn’t bring her stability. Written by her youngest daughter who endearingly quotes her like scripture “the Book of Sallie Carol 2:2 says…rent isn’t really due til the 5th of the month” and “they can’t evict you til you are three months behind - Book of Sallie Carol 2:6”. As the daughter of a mother who both quoted scriptures and believed paradoxes she quoted like them, I loved this style of writing. My mom’s name was Judy Carol and I believe I will start quoting her like that! This story has all the dynamics of family, poverty, sickness, sisters, hope, love, coming of age all rolled into one. Great read.
July 2, 2025
3.5. The author does a great job conveying what it felt like to live through the chaos caused by undiagnosed mental illness. Even so, her mother really goes to great lengths to not only survive but protect her daughters from harm by others. This is the rare memoir where there is no sexual abuse despite the unending poverty and accompanying hardships. Her mother was a big presence for so many reasons and it is understandable why the author took some time to find her own footing in life. Kudos to her and her sister for rising from the ashes of their childhood. Rated the memoir 3.5 stars based on the story telling style. Found the “fact or fiction” bit in the opening of part two odd although imaginative.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 16, 2025
This was easily one of my favorite memoirs of the year, wow.
I immersive read this, listening to the authors voice tell her story elevated the entire experience for me. This was raw, emotional & multilayered. Early on, you can predict the way the story will go and even with that emotional preparation… you are still bound to being torn to pieces.
My favorite kind of memoirs are when Black women are able to tell their stories without shame. I finished this wanting to cry for the author but also, because I feel like she gave us a piece of the most vulnerable parts of her mother for us to hold.
If you are sensitive to parent loss, this may be a hard memoir to experience.
Overall, this was a very beautiful read.
I immersive read this, listening to the authors voice tell her story elevated the entire experience for me. This was raw, emotional & multilayered. Early on, you can predict the way the story will go and even with that emotional preparation… you are still bound to being torn to pieces.
My favorite kind of memoirs are when Black women are able to tell their stories without shame. I finished this wanting to cry for the author but also, because I feel like she gave us a piece of the most vulnerable parts of her mother for us to hold.
If you are sensitive to parent loss, this may be a hard memoir to experience.
Overall, this was a very beautiful read.
April 10, 2025
A difficult book to review. While I can relate to the constant moving around (our family did that), finding friends in new places, watching your mother have to pack/unpack, and your sisters being the only constants, I couldn’t relate to the reasons for it. The inconsistency did have a profound effect on all four of us. How could it not? We didn’t get the validation from life long friends or the reassurance from teachers who could see your potential.
I did find the switch from first person to observer a bit of a strange shift. However, the sincerity in the voice of Erika was very moving. And, the suggestion that, had Sallie been diagnosed earlier, might all their lives been different.
I did find the switch from first person to observer a bit of a strange shift. However, the sincerity in the voice of Erika was very moving. And, the suggestion that, had Sallie been diagnosed earlier, might all their lives been different.
April 27, 2025
I won this advanced reader book from Goodreads giveaways
Erika is raised by a well educated mother, a dreamer, and a manipulator of Scripture to suit her need of survival.
Bill collectors, eviction, poverty, and cancer are an integral part of Salle Simpson’s life, non of which shakes her determination to make sure her girls become educated women.
Erika’s mother’s cancer goes into remission then returns again and again while Erika is in college, adding a mental strain to her existing financial struggles.
As Salle declines, (and denies her demise), Erika navigates her past while forming her own dreams, influenced by the her rocky, but always loving upbringing.
Erika is raised by a well educated mother, a dreamer, and a manipulator of Scripture to suit her need of survival.
Bill collectors, eviction, poverty, and cancer are an integral part of Salle Simpson’s life, non of which shakes her determination to make sure her girls become educated women.
Erika’s mother’s cancer goes into remission then returns again and again while Erika is in college, adding a mental strain to her existing financial struggles.
As Salle declines, (and denies her demise), Erika navigates her past while forming her own dreams, influenced by the her rocky, but always loving upbringing.
August 29, 2025
Although the chronology can be a bit confusing, the recurrent use of second-person narration draws readers in. We find ourselves in Simpson's position, manning an H&M customer service line while waiting for news from Sallie Carol's Atlanta hospice. We feel the devastation that sets in when this woman who has overcome the odds so many times finally succumbs. But we also have space to think about our own mothers, whether living or dead: their quirks, their failures, their struggles, their love that overcame everything and lasts still.
-Rebecca Foster
Read the full review at: https://www.bookbrowse.com/mag/review...
-Rebecca Foster
Read the full review at: https://www.bookbrowse.com/mag/review...
December 27, 2025
I really appreciated how we learned small details about “Mama” as the story unfolded. It felt like we were growing up with Simpson as we uncovered the complexities of what makes Mama who is she and the actions she’s taken- and let us not ignore the society she was living through that impacted her. This book pushes your thinking of how you understand people and the grace you’re willing to bestow. I loved the exploration of responsibility that a child carries for their parents; the guilt, resentment, protection, aching, and love.
It caused me to reflect on my own understanding of my parents and the decisions they’ve made now as an adult versus when I was a child.
It caused me to reflect on my own understanding of my parents and the decisions they’ve made now as an adult versus when I was a child.
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