Madres, padres y demás

Feminist philosophy and family memories go hand in hand in this new collection of essays by Siri Hustvedt, a masterful exploration of how many of the experiences we take for granted and that define us as human beings are not as fixed as we think, especially relationships. family or between genders, abuses of power or the influence of the environment on who we are, delving into her own personal memory, her formative years and her experience as a writer. Hustvedt once again displays an extraordinary gift for communication and interdisciplinary knowledge in this volume that moves effortlessly between the stories of his mother, his grandmother and his daughter but also those of his "artistic mothers", Jane Austen, Emily Brontë and Louise Bourgeois, and from there to broader concepts, such as the experience of motherhood in a culture shaped by misogyny and fantasies of parental authority. It is ultimately a scholar's journey into pressing questions about family love and hate, human prejudice and cruelty, and the transformative power of art.