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The Mother Who Stayed: Stories
In nine strikingly perceptive stories set miles and decades apart, Laura Furman mines the intricate, elusive lives of mothers and daughters—and of women who long for someone to nurture. Meet Rachel, a young girl desperate for her mother’s unbridled attention, knowing that soon she’ll have to face the world alone; Marian, a celebrated novelist who betrays the one person willing to take care of her as she is dying—her unclaimed “daughter”; and Dinah, a childless widow uplifted by the abandoned, century-old diaries of Mary Ann, a mother of eleven.
The Mother Who Stayed is an homage to the timeless, primal bond between mother and child and a testament that the relationships we can’t define can be just as poignant, memorable, and inspiring as those determined by blood. Tender and insightful, Furman’s stories also bravely confront darker realities of separation and regret, death and infidelity—even murder. Her vividly imagined characters and chiseled prose close the gap between generations of women as they share their wisdom almost in Although our lives will end, we must cherish the sanctity of each day and say, as did Mary Ann ages ago, “I done what I could.”
The Mother Who Stayed is an homage to the timeless, primal bond between mother and child and a testament that the relationships we can’t define can be just as poignant, memorable, and inspiring as those determined by blood. Tender and insightful, Furman’s stories also bravely confront darker realities of separation and regret, death and infidelity—even murder. Her vividly imagined characters and chiseled prose close the gap between generations of women as they share their wisdom almost in Although our lives will end, we must cherish the sanctity of each day and say, as did Mary Ann ages ago, “I done what I could.”
- GenresShort StoriesFiction
224 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2011
5 people are currently reading
200 people want to read
About the author
Laura Furman
67 books59 followersLaura J. Furman (born 1945) is an American author best known for her role as series editor for the O. Henry Awards prize story collection. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Mirabella, Ploughshares, Southwest Review.
She has written three collections of stories (The Glass House, Watch Time Fly, and Drinking with the Cook), two novels (The Shadow Line and Tuxedo Park), and a memoir (Ordinary Paradise).
She founded American Short Fiction, which was a three-time finalist for the National Magazine Award. She is currently Professor of English at the University of Texas at Austin, where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in writing. Most recently, she has announced that she has submitted a collection of short stories to her agent, and the subsequent collection will be her first new work to follow the release of 2001's Drinking with the Cook.
She has written three collections of stories (The Glass House, Watch Time Fly, and Drinking with the Cook), two novels (The Shadow Line and Tuxedo Park), and a memoir (Ordinary Paradise).
She founded American Short Fiction, which was a three-time finalist for the National Magazine Award. She is currently Professor of English at the University of Texas at Austin, where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in writing. Most recently, she has announced that she has submitted a collection of short stories to her agent, and the subsequent collection will be her first new work to follow the release of 2001's Drinking with the Cook.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
December 6, 2012
True literature. Have to read without a break as it builds on subtle elements.
February 18, 2011
The Mother Who Stayed: Stories by Laura Furman is a collection of nine short stories, divided into three trios in which the stories are connected. When I first read about it, I was eagerly anticipating its release, but unfortunately the stories were dull and unemotional resulting in a disappointing experience for the book as a whole.
The first story, "The Eye" definitely didn't suck me into the book. I felt like there were details that were unimportant, like what some girls grew up to become, that were never referenced again or actually related to the story. It felt like a wisp of something, and seemed more like an excerpt than something complete. By the second story "The Hospital" I had begun to fall in love with Furman's writing but craved more from the stories themselves, this one in particular provides a glance into a mother who is sick in the hospital and her daughter and friend both come to visit her. The basic premise has so much potential and yet Furman barely glazes the surface. What she does touch on is beautifully described, for example she writes:
"Eva's lips parted and she touched them with her tongue. Love, she meant to say, love was always wonderful, no matter, no matter, no penalty for love. This wasn't true. She wanted to say something that was true."
I wanted more than a few lovely sentences, I wanted the stories to fill me with passion and emotion and in that regard they failed. The final story in the third section centers is written in the third person, "The Thief" is the story of Rachel, taking place three years after her mother's death, as she spends occasional afternoons with her friend from camp Caitlin who has an abusive boyfriend. When Caitlin's mother's pearls go missing Rachel is the first suspect. The tension between Rachel and the man from the insurance agency was incredibly well done, and I loved how Furman wrote about Rachel wondering if she actually had taken them, and if so where they had gone. The reader got soaked into that slightly fantastical world of childhood friendships and how they are not always two-sided. But once again, the story was but a glimpse into a world.
The second third of the book begins with "A Thousand Words" in which a widower deals with her husband's sudden death. Following his death, she begins to write of the beginning of her marriage, just as an old and flaky friend, Marian, from that portion of her life reconnects with her. I was mostly indifferent to it. "Here It Was, November" centers on a biographer writing on Marian's life after she has died, attempting to guarantee both of their places as writers.
"Working in the service of the dead, biographers quit their labors only when the sole remaining task is the impossible- resurrection."
In "The Blue Wall" Marian's daughter Dorothea who she gave up for adoption deals with the lost of her adopted parent and takes in Marian when she becomes ill.
The third trio of the book includes "The Blue Birds Come Today" which contains more names and dates than a reader could reasonably be expected to keep straight, especially in a short story. Each character is so briefly and sparsely described that it is impossible to form a connection to any of them, or have any emotional reaction to the story of a family with many children, many of whom die of various illness at a young age, in the mid 1800s. In the next story, "Plum Creek", Dinah and her father have been abandoned by her mother, but travel to attend the funeral anyway, ultimately returning to their home in Plum Creek. I wanted passionate emotion from Dinah, a young girl who has lost her mother twice, but instead Furman wrote with the same detached style which failed to capture my heart.
The collection ends with the title story, "The Mother Who Stayed" which is by far the longest story in the book and after being let down by the stories so far I hoped this final one would redeem it. It picks up with Dinah again, several decades later after her husband has passed on. Childless, she instead takes an interest in a local girl, Amber, and pays her to transcribe dairies she's found in her house, which the woman from the 1800s had kept. As Dinah and Amber try to discover what happen to their owner, she hopes this is an opportunity for Amber to leave the abusive relationship she is in. "The Mother Who Stayed" is by far the best story in the collection, which proved what I feel about Furman's writing which is that she is at her best when she gives the story space to develop. Unfortunately, most of the stories in The Mother Who Stayed barely skim the surface of the deep issues they attempt to address, leaving the reader unconnected to the characters and uninterested in the outcome.
The first story, "The Eye" definitely didn't suck me into the book. I felt like there were details that were unimportant, like what some girls grew up to become, that were never referenced again or actually related to the story. It felt like a wisp of something, and seemed more like an excerpt than something complete. By the second story "The Hospital" I had begun to fall in love with Furman's writing but craved more from the stories themselves, this one in particular provides a glance into a mother who is sick in the hospital and her daughter and friend both come to visit her. The basic premise has so much potential and yet Furman barely glazes the surface. What she does touch on is beautifully described, for example she writes:
"Eva's lips parted and she touched them with her tongue. Love, she meant to say, love was always wonderful, no matter, no matter, no penalty for love. This wasn't true. She wanted to say something that was true."
I wanted more than a few lovely sentences, I wanted the stories to fill me with passion and emotion and in that regard they failed. The final story in the third section centers is written in the third person, "The Thief" is the story of Rachel, taking place three years after her mother's death, as she spends occasional afternoons with her friend from camp Caitlin who has an abusive boyfriend. When Caitlin's mother's pearls go missing Rachel is the first suspect. The tension between Rachel and the man from the insurance agency was incredibly well done, and I loved how Furman wrote about Rachel wondering if she actually had taken them, and if so where they had gone. The reader got soaked into that slightly fantastical world of childhood friendships and how they are not always two-sided. But once again, the story was but a glimpse into a world.
The second third of the book begins with "A Thousand Words" in which a widower deals with her husband's sudden death. Following his death, she begins to write of the beginning of her marriage, just as an old and flaky friend, Marian, from that portion of her life reconnects with her. I was mostly indifferent to it. "Here It Was, November" centers on a biographer writing on Marian's life after she has died, attempting to guarantee both of their places as writers.
"Working in the service of the dead, biographers quit their labors only when the sole remaining task is the impossible- resurrection."
In "The Blue Wall" Marian's daughter Dorothea who she gave up for adoption deals with the lost of her adopted parent and takes in Marian when she becomes ill.
The third trio of the book includes "The Blue Birds Come Today" which contains more names and dates than a reader could reasonably be expected to keep straight, especially in a short story. Each character is so briefly and sparsely described that it is impossible to form a connection to any of them, or have any emotional reaction to the story of a family with many children, many of whom die of various illness at a young age, in the mid 1800s. In the next story, "Plum Creek", Dinah and her father have been abandoned by her mother, but travel to attend the funeral anyway, ultimately returning to their home in Plum Creek. I wanted passionate emotion from Dinah, a young girl who has lost her mother twice, but instead Furman wrote with the same detached style which failed to capture my heart.
The collection ends with the title story, "The Mother Who Stayed" which is by far the longest story in the book and after being let down by the stories so far I hoped this final one would redeem it. It picks up with Dinah again, several decades later after her husband has passed on. Childless, she instead takes an interest in a local girl, Amber, and pays her to transcribe dairies she's found in her house, which the woman from the 1800s had kept. As Dinah and Amber try to discover what happen to their owner, she hopes this is an opportunity for Amber to leave the abusive relationship she is in. "The Mother Who Stayed" is by far the best story in the collection, which proved what I feel about Furman's writing which is that she is at her best when she gives the story space to develop. Unfortunately, most of the stories in The Mother Who Stayed barely skim the surface of the deep issues they attempt to address, leaving the reader unconnected to the characters and uninterested in the outcome.
January 23, 2012
This book had great reviews on the front and back covers. It's three novellas in one book, with each novella broken up into three parts. Considering I am a mother who stayed (when sometimes I felt like leaving), I was thinking "I bet I can really relate to the mothers and/or their situations in these novellas."
Boy, was I wrong. Reading this book left me confused and wondering, based on its glowing reviews, exactly what I missed while reading it. I kept hoping it would get better and pretty much forced myself to finish it simply to balance all my sci-fi, fantasy, mystery, etc., reading with some bona fide literature. However, I'm filing this book under "books that really mean English profs use for character critique." Ten pages. Over a holiday weekend. I hated it.
Boy, was I wrong. Reading this book left me confused and wondering, based on its glowing reviews, exactly what I missed while reading it. I kept hoping it would get better and pretty much forced myself to finish it simply to balance all my sci-fi, fantasy, mystery, etc., reading with some bona fide literature. However, I'm filing this book under "books that really mean English profs use for character critique." Ten pages. Over a holiday weekend. I hated it.
November 5, 2014
Laura Furman is an original voice and storyteller and I found this collection intriguing and actually worth study. A trio of triplicate, slightly-interrelated stories all with a subtext of parenting (or not). I feel the title actually does the collection an injustice, as it seemed to me the over-arching theme was one of women living alone, or navigating gender imperatives in the context of living alone.
Furman's writing is stark (someone compared her to Alice Munro or Lorrie Moore--both apt comparisons, IMO), sometimes exceedingly beautiful and singular.
No, these are not uplifting tales of transcendence or epiphany. They are stories of real-life, quiet grappling with the meaning of life and I found them enthralling.
Furman's writing is stark (someone compared her to Alice Munro or Lorrie Moore--both apt comparisons, IMO), sometimes exceedingly beautiful and singular.
No, these are not uplifting tales of transcendence or epiphany. They are stories of real-life, quiet grappling with the meaning of life and I found them enthralling.
July 15, 2011
Among short story collections, this is one of the stronger I've read in some time. The stories are linked in groups of three. The third group has the strongest impact. The author doesn't tell the reader how to react, and some readers may find this aspect challenging. Instead, the reader is left thinking about the book long after.
I'd compare it to Alice Munro or maybe Lorrie Moore.
I'd compare it to Alice Munro or maybe Lorrie Moore.
February 11, 2012
No matter how hard I tried, I could not get into this book. The stories were boring and drab. And honestly I never understood what real message they were trying to tell. The stories themselves did not seem to need to be told. I was very disappointed with this book.
July 30, 2012
A rivetting read.
This exploration of mother-daughter relationships is exquisitely crafted. The reader is sucked into the ageless issues of connection and dysfunction, love and loss, in a series of three trios of stories which are loosely connected (by the heartstrings) in time, space, and blood.
This exploration of mother-daughter relationships is exquisitely crafted. The reader is sucked into the ageless issues of connection and dysfunction, love and loss, in a series of three trios of stories which are loosely connected (by the heartstrings) in time, space, and blood.
August 10, 2011
I won this book in a good reads first reads contest. I'm really looking forward to reading this book as I have heard good things about it.
June 2, 2012
I kept trying to slow down while reading this interesting collection of stories. But the writing was good and the storyline kept me going. Very rich.
July 19, 2014
Fantastic! The writing was so strong and the stories were spare and perfectly articulated. This collection of short stories was like a box of delicious assorted chocolates.
January 15, 2023
It's been a while since I've read a great short story collection. So glad I picked up Laura Furman's The Mother Who Stayed. The nine stories--divided into three equal sections--are gracefully written, engrossing, and thought-provoking. They also speak to one another. In each of the sections, the three stories are linked by shared characters, situations, and themes. Questions raised in one story are sometimes answered in another.
Laura Furman served as series editor for the O'Henry Prize Stories for many years. Her expertise is on full display in this excellent collection.
Laura Furman served as series editor for the O'Henry Prize Stories for many years. Her expertise is on full display in this excellent collection.
February 9, 2023
When you start reading the first short story in this collection, pay attention. The two stories that follow will be related. This is not a linear progression; the time frame, the main character, and even the point of view may be different, but the stories reflect and complement each other. The Mother Who Stayed consists of three of these three-story mini-novellas. I did enjoy the first two more than the last one, but they are all intriguing and well-written. I'd like to know if this is a technique in other books.
September 9, 2017
Lots left to think about. Women, caring for women, what's our (my) place in this world? Journaling- and why? For whom?
I appreciated the Q&A with the author.
I appreciated the Q&A with the author.
February 3, 2023
I had a hard time staying connected.
September 7, 2011
I got this book free from goodreads to review. It contains 3 trios of short stores. The stories are extremely well written, very descriptive, and rather disturbing. I found them to be a bit confusing and disjointed as well. I liked the last story the best, but it was disturbing, as all of them were in some way.
The stories are all about women but they are not all about mothers. There is bad parenting, mothers who abandon their children and women who are not mothers but pretend to be.
The "mother who stayed" is apparantly the only good mother in the book, and her story, told in brief diary exerpts is not terribly interesting.
The book seems rather degrading to mothers in general.
The stories are all about women but they are not all about mothers. There is bad parenting, mothers who abandon their children and women who are not mothers but pretend to be.
The "mother who stayed" is apparantly the only good mother in the book, and her story, told in brief diary exerpts is not terribly interesting.
The book seems rather degrading to mothers in general.
July 7, 2013
the review that hooked me:
This wonderful collection of stories deals with the commonplace (coming of age, motherhood, the family dynamic) turned upside down by uncommon events (early terminal illness, violent weather, murderous jealousy). Furman creates dramatic tension with ease and her descriptive prose completely engulfs the reader. The stories are interestingly connected and simultaneously contemplative and disturbing. Furman has been compared to Alice Munro and for good reason.
unfortunately, the book didn't hook me. read first story then quit.
This wonderful collection of stories deals with the commonplace (coming of age, motherhood, the family dynamic) turned upside down by uncommon events (early terminal illness, violent weather, murderous jealousy). Furman creates dramatic tension with ease and her descriptive prose completely engulfs the reader. The stories are interestingly connected and simultaneously contemplative and disturbing. Furman has been compared to Alice Munro and for good reason.
unfortunately, the book didn't hook me. read first story then quit.
April 5, 2011
The structure of this short story collection is its most intriguing feature: three "trios" (or sets of three) linked short stories. How the stories are linked differs from trio to trio, which makes for intriguing reading if you love short stories.
The writing itself was technically solid, but often uninspired. The subject matter was often interesting, but not intriguing. In other words, something consistently fell just a little short of the mark.
The writing itself was technically solid, but often uninspired. The subject matter was often interesting, but not intriguing. In other words, something consistently fell just a little short of the mark.
July 30, 2015
LOVED this collection. Been a while since a book of short stories knocked my socks off, but this one did that and more.
A linked collection (three parts, each consisting of three linked stories) examining varied women: mothers, daughters, widows, wives, academics. Beautiful, insightful writing that is reminiscent of Alice Munro, in terma of depth and dazzle.
A linked collection (three parts, each consisting of three linked stories) examining varied women: mothers, daughters, widows, wives, academics. Beautiful, insightful writing that is reminiscent of Alice Munro, in terma of depth and dazzle.
July 22, 2013
Had I stopped after the first group of stories, I would have given the book four stars. Had I only read the last group, I would have given the book two stars, so it is balanced out at three. The first two groups of stories were beautifully written and evocative. I felt that the last group did not hold together very well.
Read
June 8, 2011I didn't really like this book, but it was a matter of taste. I think it was well-written, just not a style of writing I really enjoy. I didn't rate it because I didn't finish it, and don't think that would be fair.
September 13, 2016
A beautiful set of stories with a common back story of a variety of mother-daughter connections and losses. Complex, sometimes dark, often sad, Furman's style is comfortingly like Alice Munro's, as mentioned in the reviews in the book's frontispiece. This is Chick-Lit in its prime.
April 4, 2011
I just couldn't get through this. The writing style is so concise that it doesn't flow and the stories are depressing and I felt that the individual stories were disconnected in themselves.
August 1, 2011
3 sets of stories about mother daughter relationships- enjoyed the 3rd set the most.
August 29, 2011
three groups of three connected stories. excellent.
Read
November 15, 2011Yeah, I'm just not a fan of short stories. If you are, these are good.
Last one from TBF.
Last one from TBF.
July 15, 2015
I enjoyed the stories and the style of three novellas. The writing was solid; however, it lacked inspiration and some emotion
March 2, 2013
Blah! I couldn't bring myself to read the last story...too bored and lost with the othet two. The stories didn't seem to mesh well and I was often left with the feeling that I missed something.
February 26, 2016
It was different. Very intimate portrayals. I do not usually read short stories.
July 25, 2011
Wonderful stories.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews