Honor Moore’s newest book is Our Revolution: A Mother and Daughter at Midcentury. Her previous memoir, The Bishop’s Daughter, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and a Los Angeles Times Favorite Book of the Year.From Moore's Q&A with Deborah Kalb:
Q: As you worked on the book, do you feel your view of your mother's life changed at all?--Marshal Zeringue
A: I had always thought of her as a very tragic figure because of her early death at 50, but it turned out that she was not tragic. She was kind of a triumphant, amazing woman of her generation. That was a slow dawning surprise.
Q: How was the book's title chosen, and what does it signify for you?
A: I was always going to call the final chapter something like revolution. Then one day I scrawled the word "our" next to the typed word "revolution." I was away with writer friends and one of them walked into the room and said, "Have you given any further thought to the title?” I looked down and saw the words "our revolution." I said the words and tears came and my friend said, that's it.
By then I knew that the story of the book was the revolution in the life of both my mother and myself, while taking place in what were revolutionary times in...[read on]