Synopses & Reviews
The daughter of esteemed writer Paula Fox and the mother of Courtney Love relates the curse of the first-born daughter that has haunted four generations of her family.
As an adopted child, Linda Carroll created a magical world of her own, made up of dramatic adventures and the abiding fantasy that her real mother would come and take her away. When she finds herself pregnant at the age of eighteen, she is determined to have the perfect understanding with her child that she lacked with her adoptive mother. But readers will know better, for that baby grows up to be Courtney Love, desperately attention-seeking, deeply troubled, and one of the most talented women in rock.
Even as a baby, Courtney is beset by mood swings that no doctor can explain or cure. Her dark moods and paranoia escalate as she grows up, driving mother and daughter apart. When Courtney has a daughter of her own, Linda finally decides to find her own biological mother, and end the estrangement of generations of first-born daughters.
Her Mother's Daughter is Linda Carroll's story of self-discovery as an adopted daughter, a childlike hippie mother and a woman determined to find herself before finding her roots. Set apart from the typical celebrity memoir by Carroll's gifted storytelling, Her Mother's Daughter gives a fresh perspective on the elusive yet enduring connections between mothers and daughters, and reveals the true history of the wildly confabulatory Courtney Love.
LINDA CARROLL was adopted at birth, raised in San Francisco and only later discovered that her biological mother is the writer Paula Fox. Married at eighteen, and twice more before she was thirty, she is now the mother of five grownchildren, including singer/songwriter Courtney Love. She is a therapist and writer and lives in Corvallis, Oregon with her husband of seventeen years.
Advance Praise for Her Mother's Daughter
Even if you start reading Linda Carroll's memoir out of curiosity about her famous daughter and biological mother, you'll keep reading to find out more about Linda herself. This is no celebrity potboiler, but a fascinating, beautifully written work of narrative nonfiction; Carroll unites the intimate perspective of a psychologist, the contextual sense of a historian, and the clarity of a fine biographer in one absorbing package. One of her central themes is what she calls the curse of the first-born daughter, and it does seem that a tendency to live fascinating but difficult lives runs in these women's veins. But so, apparently, does the talent of drawing, holding, and rewarding our attention. Bravo, Linda Carroll!
--Martha Beck, author of Expecting Adam and Finding Your Own North Star
There is a delicious fictional quality to this true-life story that I found riveting. In Carroll's deft telling, the book is a kind of resurrection of a family.... I think I loved Her Mother's Daughter most for the devotion that Linda Carroll has for her unusual family through decades of separations and unconventional journeys.
--Terry Ryan, author of The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio
Looking backward and forward in time, this haunting memoir tells the story of a young woman's journey to finding herself, her birth mother, and her daughter, Courtney Love. The candor and power of these pages illuminates the difficulties of all mother-daughter relationships, but offers a rare glimpseinto that elemental relationship when it is shadowed by the temperamental features of early-onset bipolar disorder. Linda Carroll has grit and grace, and writes like her mother's daughter.
--Demitri F. Papolos, M.D. and Janice Papolos, authors of The Bipolar Child
Synopsis
The daughter of esteemed writer Paula Fox and the mother of Courtney Love relates “the curse of the first-born daughter” that has haunted four generations of her family
As an adopted child, Linda Carroll created a magical world of her own, made up of dramatic adventures and the abiding fantasy that her real mother would come and take her away. When she finds herself pregnant at the age of eighteen, she is determined to have the perfect understanding with her child that she lacked with her adoptive mother. But readers will know better, for that baby grows up to be Courtney Love, desperately attention-seeking, deeply troubled, and one of the most talented women in rock.
Even as a baby, Courtney is beset by mood swings that no doctor can explain or cure. Her dark moods and paranoia escalate as she grows up, driving mother and daughter apart. When Courtney has a daughter of her own, Linda finally decides to find her own biological mother, and end the estrangement of generations of first-born daughters.
Her Mothers Daughter is Linda Carrolls story of self-discovery as an adopted daughter, a childlike hippie mother, and a woman determined to find herself before finding her roots. Set apart from the typical celebrity memoir by Carrolls gifted storytelling, Her Mothers Daughter gives a fresh perspective on the elusive yet enduring connections between mothers and daughters, and reveals the true history of the wildly confabulatory Courtney Love.
About the Author
LINDA CARROLL was adopted at birth, raised in San Francisco, and only later discovered that her biological mother is the writer Paula Fox. Married at eighteen, and twice more before she was thirty, she is now the mother of five grown children, including singer/songwriter Courtney Love. She is a therapist and writer and lives in Corvallis, Oregon, with her husband of seventeen years.
Reading Group Guide
1. In
Her Mothers Daughter, Linda Carroll discusses her childhood as an adopted child. How does Lindas identity as the “adopted daughter” influence her relationship with Louella? Does this identity change during Lindas adulthood?
2. Lindas parents hire Nellie to help take care of her. What was Lindas initial reaction to Nellie? What kind of relationship developed between them? What effect did Nellies care have on Lindas development as a person?
3. Linda fantasizes about her biological mother throughout her life and yet she does not actively search for her. What do you think stops Linda from looking for her, especially after Louella dies? What event served as the catalyst for Linda to finally find Paula? How was this reunion portrayed in the book, and how did their relationship change as they got to know one another? Why might it have changed?
4. Lindas childhood was characterized by a tension between her Catholic upbringing and her curiosity about her sexuality. How does Linda reconcile her traditional values with the desire to express her sexuality? How might Lindas experiences with Jack have affected her later sexual encounters?
5. Linda attends a number of Catholic Schools. Describe her experience at the Dominican convent. How does her time there help form her views on religion and spirituality?
6. Lindas forgiving character is evident throughout the book, notably in her compassion for her abusive adoptive father, Jack, and her unconditional embrace of her biological mother, Paula. What experiences in Lindas life instilled in her this capacity for forgiveness?
7. Linda valued her relationships with women. She maintained a strong connection with her childhood friends. What role does Judy Carroll play in Lindas childhood and adulthood?
8. Her Mothers Daughter is both a memoir and a reflection of the experience of many women who came of age during the 1960s. How did the culture of Haight-Ashbury influence Lindas choices in her early adulthood?
9. Does the books exploration of the relationships between mothers and daughters touch any universal themes concerning mothers and daughters?
10. Why does Linda refer to Courtney as her first love and a “wise soul”? Also, why is Lindas relationship with Courtney so different from those with her other daughters?
11. Why did Linda and her family move to New Zealand, and how did this move affect Courtney, Joshua, and Lindas marriage to Mark?
12. Linda writes to a great extent about her various marriages. Why do you think her marriage to Tim has lasted seventeen years when her others were stormy and short?
13. Linda writes about Courtneys rise to stardom. How has Courtneys fame shaped her adult relationship with Linda?
14. What experiences in Lindas life encouraged her to pursue a career as a therapist?