Circling My Mother, Mary Gordon tells her mother's story, eleven years after her memoir about her father, The Shadow Man. Anna Gagliano Gordon suffered from polio as child, and her later years were dominated by alcoholism and dementia. Mary Gordon tells her mother's story from the different roles she played - wife, single mother, sister - and the role faith and religion played in her life. Although she didn't understand her daughter's fascination with the arts, Anna Gordon encouraged her daughter's pursuits with humor and encouragement.
Circling My Mother has received mostly positive reviews with the Boston Globe saying, "Mary Gordon is a brilliant writer in all senses of that word; a gifted craftsperson, original scholar, unflinching observer of self and others.
Circling My Mother is her strongest work to date, but far from the easiest to read. It is a beautiful, terrible story."
