{"id":656,"date":"2024-04-30T07:09:40","date_gmt":"2024-04-30T07:09:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gwynethlewis.com\/site\/?page_id=656"},"modified":"2025-01-20T10:59:11","modified_gmt":"2025-01-20T10:59:11","slug":"nightshade-mother-a-disentangling","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/gwynethlewis.com\/site\/nightshade-mother-a-disentangling\/","title":{"rendered":"Nightshade Mother: A Disentangling"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"Nightshade<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In this extraordinary memoir, Gwyneth Lewis, the inaugural National Poet of Wales, recounts her toxic upbringing at the hands of her controlling, coercive mother. It is a book that Gwyneth has been preparing to write all her life, in diaries which she\u2019s kept since childhood. In these journals, she interrogates the emotionally abusive mother\/daughter relationship, in great pain but determined to find a way through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result is a book which Gwyneth co-writes with her younger self, an unexpected and life-saving dialogue through time. Metaphors of haunting intensity help her confront what happened to her; quotations from art and literature help to guide and steady her. Nightshade Mother<\/em> is a book about the power of art, language and, ultimately about homecoming after a lifetime of exile from herself. It is a profoundly moving and beautiful work; questing, forgiving and loving in its approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u2018An astonishing memoir\u2026 a triumph of tone and poise amidst so much disarray and confusion\u2026 It seems to me extraordinary that Gwyneth Lewis is more than able to write this unique version of the growth of the poet\u2019s mind\u2019.
<\/p>\nAdam Phillips<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u2018In this unsparing memoir of a passionately controlling mother\u2026, Gwyneth Lewis explores the nature of the damage done, the discovery of patchy but real vehicles of healing, the challenges of where and how to offer – or to postpone \u2013 forgiveness… It is a moving, difficult, and, ultimately, loving record, insisting on growing beyond both collusion and resentment’.<\/p>\nRowan Williams<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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\u2018This is an extraordinary book: an anatomy of an abusive relationship, harrowing but leavened by love\u2026 It is, in the end, a story of healing. Inspirational\u2019.<\/p>\nTom Bullough<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u2018This book was dangerous to write and is troubling to read. \u2026. She succeeds in negotiating a liberating truce with her deeply troubled past. And so this remarkable volume ends in cautious optimism with the rebirth of a person and of a writer.’<\/p>\nM Wynn Thomas<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n

‘A recent book which inspires me is Gwyneth Lewis\u2019s memoir, Nightshade Mother: A Disentangling <\/em>(Calon Books). The inaugural National Poet of Wales, she is a wonderful writer in English and Welsh. She reclaims her childhood from the corrosive effects of a coercive mother who tried to colonise her daughter\u2019s writing talent, even to passing her own writing off as the young Gwyneth\u2019s. This was a threat to the child\u2019s personhood. I admire Gwyneth Lewis\u2019s rigour and her respect not only for memory and perception, but for evidence. It\u2019s a fascinating account of the perils of being a highly creative person and how important it is to be careful of the writing self.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Angela Graham, Belfast Telegraph<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Features:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Guardian<\/em>: \u2018Having been repeatedly annihilated by my mother, I\u2019m resilient as hell\u2019: Gwyneth Lewis<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daily Mail<\/em>: My emotionally abusive mother silenced me for decades<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Verb, BBC Radio <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Guardian: <\/em>Poem of the week: Llyfr Geirfa fy Nhad \/ My Father\u2019s Vocabulary Book by Gwyneth Lewis<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gwyneth in conversation with Professor Matt Jarvis – Y Drwm, National Library of Wales, November 21, 2024<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Times: <\/em>I grew up in an abusive home with closed curtains \u2014 I went back and let the light in<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/a>Golwg 360: \u201cY llyfr anodda\u2019 i fi ei sgrifennu erioed\u201d<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reviews:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Terri Apter, Times Literary Supplement Review: Webs of words: Reconciling with a mother’s tongue<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Spectator: Surviving an abusive mother-daughter relationship<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Caught By The River: Nightshade Mother<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Life Writing: Nightshade Mother<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nation Cymru – Book Review: Nightshade Mother<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buzz Mag: Gwyneth Lewis\u2019 NIGHTSHADE MOTHER: a memoir of parental complexity and personal grow<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amy Mcgrath Hughes: Book Review: ‘Nightshade Mother – A Disentangling’<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

‘Nid oes yma faddau hawdd na chatharis braf, ond mae yma ddatgelu gwirioneddau pwysig am natur – a pheryglon – cariad a theulu, sydd yn ysgwyd y darllenydd i\u2019r carn\u2019. (\u2018Here is no easy forgiveness or pleasant catharsis, but the revelation of important truths about the nature – and dangers – of love and family, which shakes the reader to her core\u2019.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

O\u2019r Pedwar Gwynt <\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Nightshade<\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this extraordinary memoir, Gwyneth Lewis, the inaugural National Poet of Wales, recounts her toxic upbringing at the hands of her controlling, coercive mother. It is a book that Gwyneth has been preparing to write all her life, in diaries which she\u2019s kept since childhood. In these journals, she interrogates the emotionally abusive mother\/daughter relationship,… Read More »Nightshade Mother: A Disentangling<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"off","neve_meta_content_width":100,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-656","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nNightshade Mother: A Disentangling - Gwyneth Lewis<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In this extraordinary memoir, Gwyneth Lewis, recounts her toxic upbringing at the hands of her controlling, coercive mother.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/gwynethlewis.com\/site\/nightshade-mother-a-disentangling\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nightshade Mother: A Disentangling - 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