Dear Laura: Letters from a Mother to her Daughter

Leaving home for the first time produces an array of conflicting emotions: longing to be independent yet desperate for a sense of connection in the form of advice, criticism and praise. The writer Laura Hird's edited volume of letters from her mother charts this period. They are made all the more poignant by the fact that she re-read them after her mother's death. June Hird clearly struggled with 'empty nest' syndrome, feeling abandoned, grief, pride and a new sense of freedom. Laura Hird has skillfully edited and transformed them into a smooth flowing narrative by the addition of a contextualising commentary. This posits them into both a personal and national history that includes the introduction of the poll tax and all the financial difficulties that it brought for many people.

June Hird was plagued by a myriad of unresolved and unexplored creative talents. She had longed to be an actress, but had refused to be friends with Sean Connery because he seemed too common; she was an insatiable reader and loved classical music. She ensured that these qualities were passed on to her daughter by introducing her to them even as a foetus. It was in this physical and emotional space that Laura was able to discover her creativity and find fruition by becoming an author, though it was at the expense of neglecting her mother. Through re-examining these letters, Laura is able to re-assess the relationship between parents and child and confront her own feelings of guilt and grief.

This book incites powerful emotions of the pain and freedom of emotional separation from a loved one. Both Laura and June Hird write with rawness and clarity, making this a painful yet cathartic read full of emotional honesty. Offering insight into the mother's position on this difficult transition could urge a reader to write and heal some of those gaps that occur when moving away before regret sets in as it did for Laura. This book brings tears and laughter through its unapologetically frank view of life: a rare emotional occurrence. Insight like this is seldom seen and every page should be savoured.