Cover Image: Everything My Mother Taught Me

Everything My Mother Taught Me

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Member Reviews

Narcissists make lousy mothers.  A little girl chooses silence over speech after a devastating loss.  Alice Hoffman is a magician, turning a mere 28 pages into a meaningful full-bodied story.

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This is the third story in the inheritance series that I had looked at and I am fascinated by the differences from one author to another in this short format. In this one, Alice Hoffmann's style comes though, so if you've enjoyed her novels, I think you will enjoy this one.

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I absolutely loved this short story! This is only my second. Alice Hoffman
book and it will not be the last. I just love her writing style. I had forgotten this
was a short story and I was settled in for a good read. And that it was, just short.

Thank you so much, Alice Hoffman, your Publisher, and Netgalley for allowing
me to read this great book and write a review!

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After recently reading Alice Hoffman’s 2019 historical WWII novel, The World That We Knew, I was surprised and delighted to spot a new Hoffman title on NetGalley. However, I quickly realized “Everything My Mother Taught Me” is not a novel, but a short story that will appear in an Amazon-published collection (Inheritance) before year’s end. Opening in 1908 Boston, “Everything My Mother Taught Me” tells the sad but redemptive story of Adeline, whose loving ex-sailor father dies, leaving her with a heartless, gold-digger mother seeking gifts from boyfriends in bars even as her husband lies on his deathbed. With no one wanting to support a widow and her child, Nora looks for the easiest and most romantic-sounding job she can find—one on a remote island with twin lighthouses and only the three lighthouse keepers and their families. Having always been criticized by her mother for anything she said, 12-year-old Adeline determines never to speak again. What could be a better way to get back at her mother? Will Nora be able to change her ways on the rocky island? Will Adeline regain her self-worth and her voice? Read “Everything My Mother Taught Me” to find out. Expect a few surprises.

Thanks to Amazon and NetGalley for the Advance Reader Copy and my chance to experience another tale from Alice Hoffman, who can always tell an artful and captivating story.

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I’m not a short story fa. At all. It might have something to do with having to read them in school and deconstruct every bit of them that turned me off. I also think I need more than a few pages to get attached to a character, or for a story to flow organically. However, I made an exception for Alice Hoffman. She’s such a lyrical writer, that I’ll read almost anything she writes. In this story, we immediately begin to care god the p,Igbo of our young main character. We feel what it’s like to live on a weather beaten rock in the Pacific Ocean. While this story, as most short stories, was wrapped up a little too tightly for me, it was also satisfying.

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Alice Hoffman has done it again!!!! In 28 pages she has written a gripping tale about loyalty, betrayal, love, secrets, friendship, and what drives one to silence. Twelve-year-old Adeline hasn't spoken since her father's death, but she sees all and finds a way to communicate without saying a word.

I won’t say more about the plot as the short story is only twenty-eight pages, but in those twenty-eight pages, Hoffman gives her characters distinct personalities, struggles, desires, and pain. Wonderfully written, this book is atmospheric, compelling and chilling. Hoffman has proven time and time to be an excellent storyteller and this short story is no exception.

This short story is part of a collection of stories called Inheritance.

Not a fan of short stories? This one WILL change your mind! Fans of Hoffman's novels will love this short gem of a book!

Thank you to Amazon Original Stories and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this short story in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

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“Everything My Mother Taught Me” by Alice Hoffman is a heartfelt story that takes place in the early 1900’s. It is about a young girl being raised by her immoral mother, after her father passes away and raises the nature vs nurture question. Gorgeous writing and a haunting setting pulls you into this story from the very first sentence.

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I immediately loved twelve year Adeline and was broken hearted for her from the first sentence. “There are those who insist that mothers are born with love for their children and place them before all other things, including their own needs and desires. This was not the case with us.” This is a short and beautifully written story about a young girl in the early 1900’s New England trying to find her way in a world given what she knows. A self imposed mute, since her beloved father died, Adeline is wise though she speaks no words. I don’t want to say much about the plot since the story is only 28 pages. Instead, I’ll say what I knew for sure when I finished it. Alice Hoffman is a prolific writer and while I’ve only read a few of her novels, she is firmly cemented on my list of favorite writers. I also know that one of my reading goals in the coming year will be to read some of her books that I have been meaning to get to. I also know that I won’t soon forget Adeline.

I was fortunate to obtain an advanced copy of this from Amazon Original through NetGalley. It’s part of the Amazon Original Inheritance Collection. If you are a NetGalley member, I recommend you go and request it. If not, preorder it from Amazon kindle . It’s being released 12/19/19 . It’s worth so much more than the $1.99 that it will cost you.

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Short, bittersweet, with a strong young heroine. This story is missing this author’s “mystical” signature, but proves that she writes engaging characters and compelling plots nonetheless.

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I was given a free copy of this story from @netgalley in exchange for my honest review. And honestly, I didn't really get it. 🤷🏻‍♀️ It is a short story (23 pages according to Amazon), so I'm sure that was part of it. But I'm not positive if it was longer, and more fleshed out, I would have liked it better. I didn't find myself rooting for who I think I was supposed to root for. I wasn't really rooting for anyone. And the title... I guess everything her Mom taught her was basically what NOT to do... I don't know. Not a fan of this one. Others are, it has some good reviews, but I didn't see the point of it.
#ARCReading #2019Reads #EverythingMyMotherTaughtMe #NetGalley

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This is a very short story.. not much to comment on. A strange little piece of fiction that did not capture my interest. Perhaps she intends to turn it into a novel at some point. Maybe that will add to its appeal.

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I received this from Netgalley.com for a review.

In this haunting short story of loyalty and betrayal, a young woman in early 1900s Massachusetts discovers that in navigating her treacherous coming-of-age, she must find her voice first.

2 stars

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Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview this ARC of Everythinng My Mother Taught Me.

This is a short story about a mother and a daughter, and all the events that take place after the death of their husband and father.

I was not prepared for this story. Most of all how short it was. But I think short stories are underrated. I was very much reminded as I began and finished it in the late hours of last night, just how much a story can tug your heart, no matter the length. Alice Hoffman has always been hit or miss with me, but when she hits, it's a home run. This is so atmospheric and heartbreaking, but also so injected with beauty that it will make you ache in the best way.

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Nice little short story. I enjoyed Adeline’s voice. I wish it were longer, when I requested I didn’t realize it was a short story. Overall it was good!

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Thank you NetGalley and Amazon for the opportunity to read and give an honest review of this story written by Alice Hoffman.

Twelve year old Adeline vows never to speak again after the death of her beloved father. Her mother, in an attempt to financially support the two of them, takes a job on an island as housekeeper for the families of the three lighthouse keepers. Things begin to unravel when Adeline’s mother begins an affair with one of the lighthouse keepers. Young Adeline helps the lighthouse keeper’s wife to fake her own death, causing a cascading series of events to take place.

This was a good story. Young Adeline, old beyond her years, was an interesting enough character, that a whole book could have been written about her.

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Thank you Net Galley for the free ARC. Disappointing that it was just a short story. Sometimes a mother teaches you the opposite of what she embodies, in this case being an adulterer and a drunk.

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This short story by Alice Hoffman is part of a collection of five short stories by different authors under the title of Inheritance, and if the other four are as good as this one, it will prove to be worth your time to check them all out.

In twenty-eight pages, Hoffman shares an unforgettable story of a young woman living in the early 1900s with her parents in Boston whose life changes dramatically the year she turned twelve. First, her father becomes ill, and her mother is fond of spending her time in a local tavern in the company of men. A tavern where Adeline often has to find her and bring her home. Adeline is warned by her mother not to tell her father what she’s seen, telling her to keep her mouth shut. And so she does, making a vow to remain silent.

Twin lighthouses on the rocky coast of Cape Ann is where the later part of this story takes place, which adds a sense of isolation in the setting, prompting Adeline’s desire to create a different path for herself.

A story with a haunting atmosphere that pulled me in from the first sentence about secrets, the ones we keep from others and the ones we keep from ourselves, as well.


Pub Date: 19 Dec 2019

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Amazon Original Stories through NetGalley

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WOW. I would love this short book to go on and on. It was beautiful in all the shorts. I want to thank NetGalley for the advance copy to review. I am happy I read this one.

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I have been a huge Alice Hoffman fan for decades. Everything My Mother Taught Me was a e-book short story by Amazon Original Stories. While it was a short story, Hoffman packed in a great story. This definitely could be expanded on- I would definitely like to read more. Hoffman introduces you to a young girl and her mother, who after her father dies, is forced in to a new way of living. Her mother and her go away form their home in Boston to live and help care for a lighthouse along the coast. you learn how deceitful and terrible her mother can be. Thankful for the other ladies in the lighthouse, the young girl meets a woman who takes her under her wing. No spoiler details but it gets way better than that. I read this book in no time, definitely a easy short story. Special thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for the advance digital copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

#EverythingMyMotherTaughtMe #NetGalley

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This was a quick and simple short story. I read it in about 15 minutes, but I would have loved it to be a full length novel. It told a sad tale of a young girls life, her hardships and how she overcame them. It had a great amount of detail for a short story, which helped you immediately connect to the main character. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would have to read it in a full length.

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