The Crooked Branch

Product Information

Nab-End was situated; and, on those occasions, the letter-carrier usually paid morning calls on the various people for

Eds, The (2013-03-18). "Baltimore Fishbowl | The Ivy Bookshop Brings Jeanine Cummins, author of "The Crooked Branch" -". Baltimore Fishbowl . Retrieved 2020-01-25. Leo loves Majella, and he tries to be empathetic, but there are moments when he just doesn’t understand what his wife is going through. Is he a supportive husband? How could he be better, more helpful? Is Majella right to get angry when he uses the word “babysitting” to describe staying home with their daughter, or does she overreact? Cummins was born in Rota, Spain, where her father, Gene, was stationed as a member of the US Navy. [5] Her mother, Kay, was a nurse. [6] Cummins spent her childhood in Gaithersburg, Maryland and attended Towson University, where she majored in English and communications. In 1993 Cummins was a finalist in the Rose of Tralee festival, an international event that is celebrated among Irish communities all over the world; at each festival in Tralee, Ireland, a woman is crowned the Rose. [7] Career [ edit ]One moving scenario is when Majella goes to a mommies group. The mothers here have very clear rules of what constitutes a good mother (and that definitely does not include bottle feeding!) pounds - two pounds five and seven-pence, to speak accurately - and, leaving out the penny as a nest-egg for her future After the birth of her daughter, Emma, first-time mother Majella finds herself feeling extremely strange - almost like she has somehow become separated or disconnected from herself and her family. The usually resilient and self-deprecating young woman suddenly feels isolated and exhausted - feelings which she slowly comes to realize reach far beyond simply being overwhelmed by her recent introduction to new motherhood. Trying to better understand her extraordinary feelings of 'differential otherness', Majella understands that no matter how much they may love her, her family just can't help her in this particular situation; so she seeks out professional help. his contempt for his parents' homely ways and simple ignorance. By the time he was eighteen, an articled clerk in an

Jeanine Cummins knows that there are stories beneath the stories, and she uses this brilliant knowing to weave a tale that is lyrical, emotional and often funny. This extraordinary novel reminds us how motherhood can make us feel as though we are coming undone while also being remade. Majella and Ginny navigate motherhood with a fierce love that propels the story forward with intense strength. Brilliant, vulnerable and intense, The Crooked Branchpierced my heart and paused my breath.”— New York Timesbestselling author Patti Callahan Henry When Leo and Majella found out they were expecting Emma, they left their apartment in Manhattan, and moved in search of a more suburban lifestyle in Queens. Were they right to make that move? How would Majella’s experiences as a new mother have been better or worse if they had stayed in Manhattan, or if they had selected a more neutral setting than the house where Majella grew up? In her determination to save her children, Ginny relies heavily on help from her eleven-year-old daughter Maire. Is it fair for Ginny to place so much responsibility on Maire? Is there some part of Ginny that just wants to escape from the harrowing circumstances at home, or are her motives for leaving her children entirely pure? Does her leaving constitute abandonment? Dear Oprah Winfrey: 142 Writers Ask You to Reconsider American Dirt". lithub.com . Retrieved 2021-01-03.How are Jade and Majella similar? In what ways are they different? Does either of these women represent a typical, new-mother experience, or are they both somewhere beyond the conventional ideas of what it’s like to become a mother for the first time? Are those traditional concepts of new motherhood still changing, or have they become static? would have been. Bessy rattled about among the supper-things, as she put them away after Benjamin's departure, with something of the handiness of a woman. Bessy half-resented his officiousness in pressing Dr Preston to have a cup

Cummins, Jeanine (2018-06-19). "Opinion | 'If It Could Happen to Them, Why Can't It Happen to Us?' ". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved 2019-12-12. Majella’s labor is long and difficult, and results in her giving birth to Emma by c-section. Do these factors affect how she adjusts to motherhood? Is her transition into motherhood a particularly bumpy one, or is it fairly normal? Would you describe her as having postpartum depression? this, and acted in the way which satisfied his anxiety best. He came home tired, but content; not in such high spirits as on the My favorite part of this book was Ginny’s story. If this book had been just about Ginny and her children then this would have been a perfect book and I would have given it 5 stars. However, I still enjoyed this book. Why I liked Ginny’s story so much better was because of her strong determination and love for her children. Also, she had a great story to tell. I was enriched in history. Also, I admit that I have always been fascinated with stories of Ireland. I hope to go there someday for a visit. Exploring the effect of a secret from the past on a woman who is truly on the edge—of motherhood, of her future, of sanity, of happiness—Jeanine Cummins has written a story that truly resonates. Insightful, suspenseful, and sometimes bitingly funny, with characters the reader will think about for weeks, this bittersweet novel is emotional and immensely satisfying.”

Eccentric Archives

In alternating chapters, we follow Ginny Doyle, in Ireland in 1846-7, during the famine and Majella, her great-great-great? granddaughter in current day NYC as each struggles to figure out how to be a good mother, what you should be willing to sacrifice, and what you should not.