Annie Gray : a tale (1848) / Caroline W. Healey Dall -- A marriage of persuasion (1857) / Susan Pettigru King Bowen -- Old Mother Goose (1873) / Elizabeth Stuart Phelps -- The way of peace (1898) / Alice Brown -- Old woman Magoun (1905) / Mary E. Wilkins Freeman -- Oats for the woman (1917) / Fannie Hurst -- The fire (1917) / Helen Rose Hull -- Mrs. Gladfelter's revolt (1923) / Helen Reimensnyder Martin -- Mother to dinner (1935) / Tess Slesinger -- Seventeen syllables (1949) / Hisaye Yamamoto -- I stand here ironing (1956) / Tillie Olsen -- Recuerdo (1963) / Guadalupe Valdes -- The women men don't see (1973) / James Tiptree, Jr. -- Everyday use (1973) / Alice Walker -- The lawd don't like ugly (1974) / Sherley Anne Williams -- Autobiography of my mother (1975) / Joanna Russ -- High heels (1980) / Arny Christine Straayer -- A birthday remembered (1980) / Ann Allen Shockley.
Illuminating themes of conflict, competition, and cooperation between mothers and daughters, the eighteen stories in this collection explore an ancient relationship with fresh vision. The authors include both well-known writers and those whose names will be unfamiliar to contemporary readers, representing the diversity of American ethnic and racial identities and lifestyles.--page 4 of cover.