More About Don't Let Me Keep You
Don’t Let Me Keep You is a lyrical meditation on motherhood seven times over, gestating, unfurling with rhythmic, poignant prose. Over decades we see each of the Halversons through the eyes of the others, bringing into sharp focus how differently each member can experience the same family. The way children protect their mothers, the way mothers remain children themselves, and what a mess we can still make of things despite our best intentions. That we can choose to love each other regardless of who we turn out to be, no matter what.
–Maggie Ginsberg, author of Still True
Motherhood is a symphony, from the first movement, through crescendo after crescendo, to the finale.
Hildy Halverson, a genius in math and science, is pushed by her parents to step into a male-dominated field and change the world for women. But Hildy, enamored of the scientific force of the human body, and her own body’s ability to create and sustain life, decides to go against contemporary expectations. She marries young and raises a houseful of kids.
Hildy wants her children to choose their own life paths. As each child is born, she tells them, “You can be whatever you want to be, and whatever you want to be will be great.” Despite her efforts to not influence her children, Hildy does so, often in unexpected ways. Each child is introduced in that first private moment between Hildy and her new baby. This is followed by a chapter revealing that child’s life, years later. Woven throughout is an underlying grief over the death of the sixth baby soon after birth. That grief is more pervasive than any of them expect.
In this ambitious novel, the struggles and joys, fatigue and exhilaration of motherhood, are captured in the full panorama of family life. Hildy lovingly raises her children, then lets them go, finding herself along the way.
More About Kathie Giorgio
Kathie Giorgio is the author of a total of fifteen books: eight novels, two story collections, an essay collection, and four poetry collections. She’s been nominated for the Pushcart Prize in fiction and poetry and awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Wisconsin Library Association, the Silver Pen Award for Literary Excellence, the Pencraft Award for Literary Excellence, and the Eric Hoffer Award In Fiction. Her poem “Light” won runner-up in the 2021 Rosebud Magazine Poetry Prize, and her work has also been incorporated into many visual art and musical events. Kathie is the director and founder of AllWriters’ Workplace & Workshop LLC, an international creative writing studio.
She lives with her husband, mystery writer Michael Giorgio, and their daughter Olivia, in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Three of her adult children, Christopher, Andy, and Olivia, live close by, along with her solo granddaughter, Maya Mae. One adult child has wandered off to Louisiana and lives among the mathematicians and alligators.
Thoughts on Don't Let Me Keep You
I am usually wary of books featuring motherhood. Many are either a portrayal of the perfect mother or a mother that is, shall we say...lacking in one way or another. Both annoy me because it has been my experience (as the mom of three) that we are all great moms and terrible moms. Sometimes in the same day, hour, minute.
Don't Let Me Keep You was a pleasant surprise that captured my belief. Hildy is a great mom and a terrrible mom. In other words, Hildy is real. I may not agree with Hildy's choices but I recognized her joy, fear and confusion. I bet you will too, even if you aren't a mom. Because we all spend times wondering if we've taken the right path on this journey of life.
This novel had an interesting format with one chapter introducing a child at their birth and then another chapter telling a key event from their life. Sometimes the stories and characters overlap - after all, this is the story of a family. The format also gives us the opportunity to see the same event through multiple viewpoints and learn how flexible memory and truth are. Although described as a book about motherhood, I feel it is more than that. It is a book about family that will stir up emotions ranging from grief to anger to joy.
A Little Extra
Check out the book trailer for Don't Let Me Keep You HERE
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