Searching for Mercy Street: My Journey Back to My Mother, Anne Sexton

( 3 )

Overview

Mother, are you listening? This is what I have seen and heard and learned. I am the forty-year old Linda and I am ready to speak back. It has taken twenty years for Linda Gray Sexton to address these words to her mother, the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Anne Sexton, who committed suicide on October 4, 1974. Anne Sexton's chronic mental illness was the anguished center of her family's life. While there were wonderful days, long afternoons spent discussing books, poems, and feelings - watching her grow excited when ...
See more details below
Available through our Marketplace sellers.
Other sellers (Paperback)
  • All (37) from $1.99   
  • New (6) from $2.29   
  • Used (31) from $1.99   
Close
Sort by
Page 1 of 1
Showing All
Note: Marketplace items are not eligible for any BN.com coupons and promotions
$2.29
Seller since 2013

Feedback rating:

(35)

Condition:

New — never opened or used in original packaging.

Like New — packaging may have been opened. A "Like New" item is suitable to give as a gift.

Very Good — may have minor signs of wear on packaging but item works perfectly and has no damage.

Good — item is in good condition but packaging may have signs of shelf wear/aging or torn packaging. All specific defects should be noted in the Comments section associated with each item.

Acceptable — item is in working order but may show signs of wear such as scratches or torn packaging. All specific defects should be noted in the Comments section associated with each item.

Used — An item that has been opened and may show signs of wear. All specific defects should be noted in the Comments section associated with each item.

Refurbished — A used item that has been renewed or updated and verified to be in proper working condition. Not necessarily completed by the original manufacturer.

New
0316782084 First Paperback edition. 1994. An unread copy. Has 6 small black dots on the top edge. Sold at publisher's suggested retail price (339).

Ships from: Sunnyvale, CA

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • Standard, 48 States
  • Standard (AK, HI)
  • Express, 48 States
  • Express (AK, HI)
$2.49
Seller since 2013

Feedback rating:

(16)

Condition: New
PAPERBACK New 0316782084 First Paperback edition. 1994. An unread copy. Has 6 small black dots on the top edge. Sold at publisher's suggested retail price (339).

Ships from: Santa Clara, CA

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • Canadian
  • International
  • Standard, 48 States
  • Standard (AK, HI)
  • Express, 48 States
  • Express (AK, HI)
$2.99
Seller since 2013

Feedback rating:

(91)

Condition: New
PAPERBACK New 0316782084 First Paperback edition. 1994. An unread copy. Has 6 small black dots on the top edge. Sold at publisher's suggested retail price (339).

Ships from: SUNNYVALE, CA

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • Canadian
  • International
  • Standard, 48 States
  • Standard (AK, HI)
  • Express, 48 States
  • Express (AK, HI)
$3.94
Seller since 2008

Feedback rating:

(173)

Condition: New
1996-01 Paperback New SHIPS FAST FROM NEW YORK.

Ships from: Niagara Falls, NY

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • Canadian
  • International
  • Standard, 48 States
  • Standard (AK, HI)
  • Express, 48 States
  • Express (AK, HI)
$45.00
Seller since 2013

Feedback rating:

(39)

Condition: New
Brand new.

Ships from: acton, MA

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • Standard, 48 States
$45.00
Seller since 2013

Feedback rating:

(39)

Condition: New
Brand new.

Ships from: acton, MA

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

  • Standard, 48 States
Page 1 of 1
Showing All
Close
Sort by
Sending request ...

Overview

Mother, are you listening? This is what I have seen and heard and learned. I am the forty-year old Linda and I am ready to speak back. It has taken twenty years for Linda Gray Sexton to address these words to her mother, the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Anne Sexton, who committed suicide on October 4, 1974. Anne Sexton's chronic mental illness was the anguished center of her family's life. While there were wonderful days, long afternoons spent discussing books, poems, and feelings - watching her grow excited when one of my lines pleased her filled me with a shy ecstasy - the gentle moments were hard to remember. Too often, Anne's outrageous behavior made her children cower in fear for the stability of their family. The bond between mother and daughter was never easy or clear. As a child, Linda was sent away from home for months - caring for Linda overwhelmed Anne, who confessed to having murderous impulses toward her daughter. Later, Anne would suffocate Linda with a capricious possessiveness Linda would learn to recognize as psychological and sexual abuse. I made myself numb, made my body like a stone in exchange for my mother's love. Linda eventually realized she had to break from her mother's toxic embrace in order to save herself. Searching for Mercy Street is the product of an arduous emotional and intellectual journey of two decades, during which Linda Gray Sexton became an adult and a mother and discovered her own lyrical voice as a novelist; only to find herself fighting the same demons of depression she had watched control her mother. Was I turning into her? I wondered with a flat sort of horror. Had I become "her kind"? Searching for Mercy Street is a story with which every mother and daughter will identify, because Linda Gray Sexton writes with profound honesty about this most formative of all relationships: our first. This daughter's memoir provides uniquely personal insights that no biographer or critic has - or could - have offered into the life of

The daughter of poet Anne Sexton offers an honest, unsparing memoir that brings to life the emotional roller coaster ride that was life with Anne--the wild mood swings, inappropriate sexual behavior, midnight ambulance rides to the psychiatric ward--as well as the fierce love that bound Linda and her mother together. Photos.

Read More Show Less

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
Sexton's memoir recalls growing up with her unstable and self-destructive poet mother, who killed herself when her daughter was 21. (Jan.)
Library Journal
Sexton, a novelist and notably the daughter of the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Anne Sexton, wrote this memoir as an antidote for a depression-induced writer's block brought on, in part, by her mother's legacy. With the bias and insight only she could have, Sexton tells the story of her life with a mother who was profoundly mentally ill: depressed, deranged, suicidal, and addicted to medications, alcohol, and sex. Anne Sexton committed suicide at the age of 45 after naming her 21-year-old daughter her literary executor. This cathartic and anguish-filled book spares no detail of the mother's selfish and difficult personality or her intense and fortifying love. Sexton also briefly addresses the controversy surrounding Diane Middlebrook's Anne Sexton: A Biography LJ 8/91. Recommended for humanities collections as well as comprehensive psychology collections. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 6/15/94.]-Janice Braun, Hoover Inst. Lib., Stanford, Cal.
Read More Show Less

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780316782081
  • Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
  • Publication date: 12/1/1995
  • Edition number: 1
  • Pages: 320
  • Product dimensions: 5.50 (w) x 8.21 (h) x 0.95 (d)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
The Letter 3
In Exile 11
First Metaphors 38
A Maker of Myths 62
More Than Myself 76
Companionship 89
Live or Die 123
Independence 131
The Making of a Literary Executor 168
The Rowing Endeth 187
Afterward 199
Self-Portrait 206
Between Two Worlds 216
In Search of a Biographer 221
Call Me Mother 240
Exposures 264
On the Back of Love 283
The Starting Point 294
Mercy Street 302
Notes and Sources 305
Read More Show Less

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 5
( 3 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(3)

4 Star

(0)

3 Star

(0)

2 Star

(0)

1 Star

(0)

Your Rating:

Your Name: Create a Pen Name or

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked, or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer. However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

  • - HTML tags, profanity, obscenities, vulgarities, or comments that defame anyone
  • - Time-sensitive information such as tour dates, signings, lectures, etc.
  • - Single-word reviews. Other people will read your review to discover why you liked or didn't like the title. Be descriptive.
  • - Comments focusing on the author or that may ruin the ending for others
  • - Phone numbers, addresses, URLs
  • - Pricing and availability information or alternative ordering information
  • - Advertisements or commercial solicitation

Reminder:

  • - By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.
  • - Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.
  • - See Terms of Use for other conditions and disclaimers.
Search for Products You'd Like to Recommend

Recommend other products that relate to your review. Just search for them below and share!

Create a Pen Name

Your Pen Name is your unique identity on BN.com. It will appear on the reviews you write and other website activities. Your Pen Name cannot be edited, changed or deleted once submitted.

 
Your Pen Name can be any combination of alphanumeric characters (plus - and _), and must be at least two characters long.

Continue Anonymously
Sort by: Showing all of 3 Customer Reviews
  • Anonymous

    Posted July 22, 2004

    Life Changing

    This novel not only looks deep into the soul of the writer, but touches the reader in a way undescribable. Even if you don't think this book pertains to your life, it will. There is a the child in all of us that just doesnt understand why the world must work as it does. This book is definitely an emotional journey worth taking.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  No   Report this review
  • Anonymous

    Posted July 16, 2010

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted July 16, 2010

    No text was provided for this review.

Sort by: Showing all of 3 Customer Reviews

If you find inappropriate content, please report it to Barnes & Noble
Why is this product inappropriate?
Comments (optional)