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Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
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A groundbreaking and truly stepmother-centered way of understanding the tensions that seem to
define relations between women and their stepchildren Half of all women in the United States will live with or marry a man
with children. And what woman with stepchildren has not -- in order to
defuse the often overwhelming challenges and anxieties she experiences
-- referred to herself as a "stepmonster"? What Hope Edelman's book has done for motherless daughters,
Wednesday Martin's empowering and original Stepmonster does
for stepmothers: unlocks the emotional mysteries of why they think and
feel and act the way they do. Martin draws on her own experience as a
stepmother, interviews many stepmothers and stepchildren, and gathers
insights from literature, psychology, and evolutionary biology to
reveal the little-understood realities of this demanding role. Stepmonster illuminates the harrowing process of becoming a
stepmother, exposes the myths and realities of being married to a man
with children, counteracts the prevailing notion that stepmothers are
solely responsible for the problems they encounter, identifies the five
"step-dilemmas" that create conflict, and considers the emotional and
social challenges men with children face when they remarry. Stepmonster
also sheds light on the history of stepmothering and the previously
overlooked legacy of women with stepchildren everywhere. Finally, in an unexpected twist, Martin shows why the myth of the
Wicked Stepmother is at once an elaborate cultural fiction and our
single best tool for understanding who real stepmothers are and how
they feel. pub date: 2009-05-04 | hardcover | 9780618758197 |
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