Going to the Well

How does a daughter get to know and understand her mother? The closest bond of any two women is that of mother-daughter. Yet, this relationship often suffers over time from misunderstandings, anger and resentment. Searching for a way to reconcile past mother-daughter wounds, Nancy Roeder and her mother launched a series of taped interviews that extended over sixteen years. In her mother's voice are vivid recollections of rural life in the early 1900s, of a family saga filled with sadness and shame, poverty and fear-based religion. As her mother recounts the efforts to overcome her past, she offers insights into steps she took toward mental and spiritual health. Going to the Well is a powerful and moving double memoir, unfolding as a journey of hope for those with shattered relationships, offering a path to redemption.

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Nancy Roeder's book is a creative and poetic chronicle that seeks to find the real person hidden within her mother's history experienced during a bygone American era. Daughter and mother explore these relationship roots together, and both emerge transformed. This engrossing book is a must read for anyone who wishes to reshape a relationship in a powerful manner.
— Robert T. Latham, author of A Tale of Boxes: The Role of Myth in Creating and Changing Our Stories

Going to the Well is a sensitive and thought-provoking look at the remarkable journey made by several generations of women in one family.  This book connects their stories and shows how evolving social norms transformed complex family linkages through time, converting them into strong new life options. Authentically captured and beautifully recounted through conversations between a daughter and her mother, this book offers universal insight into women's lives through two centuries of American experience.
—Marsha Willis, author of The Ethan Chronicles: Requiem for a Life Stolen