My Mother Ruth

When Hillary Johnson learned that her mother, Ruth, had terminal cancer, she left New York City and returned to Minneapolis to care for Ruth in her final years. While coping with the practical and emotional difficulties such a situation would cause any daughter, she slowly discovered what she had failed to see in the two decades since she'd left home for college: her mother's identity as a woman, independent of the role of mother or wife.My Mother Ruth is a beautifully written and emotionally compelling account of how two woman get to look beyond the role of mother and daughter and see two complex individuals who are given a final chance to truly know one another under the pressure of impending death.