Reviews for And Then Mark Died: Letters of Grief, Love, & Faith

The average rating for And Then Mark Died: Letters of Grief, Love, & Faith based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-04-14 00:00:00 Susan De Beer This is a wonderful read. The sophistication of the research is more than I could imagine before reading it. Starting from thoughtful interviews with a group of hospital workers (also are mom with children at various age), Anita deconstructed our misconception of the Orientation model of moms, revealed the visibility of women's work (women have always worked both in and out-side the house throughout history), exhibited the inevitable dilemma of individual solutions (e.g. one's solution contributes to perpetuate other people's problem) and called for a re-conception of work-family relations at the society level which do not view this pair as conflict (workers are also parents). Work place should accommodate workers identity as parents, spouse and children, resolve the divide of production and reproduction and make child care a shared responsibility of the whole society. In addtion, Anita also pointed out examples like French and Scandinavian countries' family policies that contain elements we could borrow and learn.

Review # 2 was written on 2016-10-14 00:00:00 Jeff Young I loved this book... it tells the story of pioneer women creating gardens as a form of solace in their loneliness and grief, and as a creative and intellectual activity. Yes, they were often women of privilege but they endured the loss of friends and family left behind in England, and like many women of the 19th century often suffered the loss of their children as well. They had no gardening guides to tell them what would grow and what wouldn't, so they had to use trial-and-error and experimentation with their plantings. The author tells their stories with empathy and compassion, but also with admiration for their achievements. Highly recommended. (It would make a lovely gift book too).