{"product_id":"the-habit-9781453221006","title":"The Habit","description":"\u003cp\u003eThere is an unmistakable gleam in Mas eye  and her absolute composure both appalls me and rips my heart from its root. I burst into tears. The gauntlet is thrown.From the time she was conceived  Susan Morse was her mothers \"special\" child. For Susan  special translated into becoming her incorrigible mothers frazzled caretaker  a role that continued into adulthood. Now she finds herself as part of the sandwich generation  responsible for a woman whose eighty-five years have been single-mindedly devoted to identifying The Answer To Everything. And  this weeks Answer looks like it may be the real thing.Susans mother is becoming a nun.Mother Brigid is opinionated and discerning (Dont call them trash cans. Theyre scrap baskets!)  feisty and dogmatic (Stop signs and No Parking zones are installed by bureaucratic pencil pushers with nothing better to do)  a brilliant artist (truly  a saving grace)  and predictably unpredictable  recently demonstrated by her decision to convert to Orthodox Christianity and join its holy order. Dressed in full nun regalia  she might be mistaken for a Taliban bigwig. But just as Mother Brigid makes her debut at church  a debilitating accident puts her in a rehab center hours from Susans home  where Susans already up to her neck juggling three teenagers  hot flashes  a dog  two cats  and a husband whose work pulls him away from the family for months at a time. Now Susan gets to find out if its less exhausting to be at her mothers beck and call from one hundred miles away or one hundred feet. And shes beginning to suspect that the things she always thought she knew about her mother were only the tip of a wonderfully singular iceberg. In this fresh  funny  utterly irresistible memoir  Susan Morse offers readers a look at a mother-daughter relationship that is both universal and unique. For anyone whos wondered how they made it through their childhood with their sanity intact  for every multitasking woman coping simultaneously with parents and children  for those of us who love our parents come hell or high water (because we just cant help it)  Susan Morses story is surprising  reassuring  and laugh-out-loud funny. A beguiling journey of love  forbearance  and self-discovery  The Habit introduces two unforgettable women youll be glad to know-from a safe distance. \"Susans epic effort to differentiate herself from the consuming power of this unique woman is every womans struggle  but writ large  crazy  and funny.\" -Rosanne Cash  author of Composed \"Susan Morse writes in a dream state  and The Habit is funny and moving and wise. After reading it  youll see Susans mother in a whole new way  and your own mother  too.\" -Michael Bamberger  author of The Swinger \"In her portrait of her hilarious and heroic struggle with an almost impossiblemother  Susan Morse has captured the mother-daughter paradox like no one else in recent memory.\" -Rebecca Pepper Sinkler  former editor of the New York Times Book Review \"Morses caustic  changeable  demanding  smarty-pants mother is a late-life Sharon Sedaris  had Sharon Sedaris lived and become an Orthodox Christian nun in her eighties  and Morse herself is a crackerjack guide.\" -Cynthia Kaplan  author of Why Im Like This \"A page-turning  humorous account of one womans experience during her difficult mothers turbulent journey into old age. . . . A lively testament to a complicated though loving mother-daughter relationship.\" -Kirkus Reviews \"A sometimes searing  often hilarious account of a mother-daughter relationship Hallmark probably doesnt have a card for.\" -Ellen Gray  Philadelphia Daily News Susan Morse was educated at Williams College and has worked as an actress in L.A. and New York. She now lives in Philadelphia with her husband  David  and their three children. She has edited fiction  although this book is nonfiction. Mostly. She promises.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67931519221813,"sku":"ByrdShop_145322100X","price":68.71,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9781453221006.jpg?v=1794213664","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-habit-9781453221006","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}