What role does a mother play in raising thoughtful, generous children? In her literary debut, internationally award-winning writer Courtney Zoffness considers what we inherit from generations past--biologically, culturally, spiritually--and what we pass on to our children. Where is the line between privacy and secrecy? How do the stories we tell inform who we become?
... beyond simple conclusions about mother/child relationships, Zoffness’s work allows us a window into the experience of how we both inherit and pass on different parts of ourselves. She explores one son’s need for power and the potential traps of interpretation she falls into when trying to see his role-playing through adult eyes. Through explication of the history she shares with her mother, she examines the guarded nature of artists, and how sharing her mom’s creative traits means that she never really gets let into her mother’s world. Zoffness asks important questions about her body in particular — what it holds, how it is able to bring life into the world, and how she can create art with it ... Essays like Holy Body demonstrate Zoffness’s ease with language and the way she honors her reader by trusting her to draw her own conclusions. Zoffness braids several narrative lines together within the same essay. Her work lends itself to inspiring questions rather than providing answers.
... a powerful exploration of a range of experiences that many women face viewed through a Jewish lens ... Zoffness’s honest, contemplative essays regarding white privilege and racism and the way society encourages a desire for power and control in young boys make this book extremely relevant and highly engaging ... full of acute observations that any woman and mother will find relatable.
Throughout her debut essay collection, Spilt Milk, Zoffness applies thoughtful analysis to everyday situations ... Throughout Spilt Milk, Zoffness’ essays plait her life experiences with larger observations about society. In her layered storytelling, she brings empathy to every situation and often finds empathy for herself along the way. Spilt Milk is a generous, warm debut from an already prizewinning writer.
