If you are unclear about the book it is "Alice Hoffman’s 'Everything My Mother Taught Me' is part of Inheritance, a collection of five stories about secrets, unspoken desires, and dangerous revelations between loved ones. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single setting. By yourself, behind closed doors, or shared with someone you trust". I have been enjoying Amazon's short story collections lately, so I was very excited to read one by Alice Hoffman. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this short story.

A beautiful short story with emotive writing and complicated relationships.

The story is set in the early 1900s on an island off Massachusetts. The pages are filled with stunning imagery and lyrical writing. It is a tale of three women and the paths they must take for survival.

“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.”

Adeline’s mother is young and beautiful and feels burdened by her husband and child. When she’s widowed unexpectedly, Nora must take on a housekeeping role at a lighthouse on a small island. Feeling that the job is beneath her, Nora seduces one of the light keepers even though he is married in order to elevate her status.

The death of her young father leaves Adeline mute. Neglected and lonely, Adeline befriends the lighthouse keeper’s wife. Their unlikely friendship transcends the spoken word and is powerful enough to shape their entire lives.

“She would have to do away with herself in order to have a life of her own.”

Never knew Hoffman wrote short stories, but I thought this one was well done. Plus, always a draw for me, it was partially set in a lighthouse, though not too detailed a setting. Liked the premise, liked the execution and enjoyed the ending. Gives credence to the adage, revenge is sweet, or maybe, revenge is a dish better served cold. Both could apply.

ARC from Netgalley.

What a powerful short story. It’s early 1900’s when Adeline’s father dies and leaves her with her mother who has no interest in being a mother. They have to move to an almost inhabitable island so her mother can work in one of three lighthouses cleaning. Adeline meets Sarah and they hatch a plan to better their lives.

This is only 30 or so pages and part of an Amazon Originals series called Inheritance. I enjoyed this a lot and look forward to the opportunity to read the other two in the series. Thanks to Alice Hoffman, netgalley and Amazon for this advanced copy to review.

A special thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Hoffman's latest work is a short story about loyalty and betrayal that takes place in early 1900s Massachusetts. A young woman is literally and figuratively trying to find her voice.

After the death of her beloved father, twelve-year-old Adeline vows never to speak again. Her adulterous mother needs to support them financially so she accepts a job as a housekeeper to the families of the three lighthouse keepers. When a local woman disappears, it is Adeline, who holds the key the mystery.

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

What a beautifully atmospheric story. Readers of my blog will know that Alice Hoffman is my favourite author. In this 28 page short story, she manages to do what it usually takes a whole novel to accomplish—the characters are fully developed and the narrative is compelling and intricate.

Haunting, mesmerizing, and heartbreaking. Alice Hoffman, you are a gift!

The reader is given a glimpse into Julia a young girls life and her connection with her mother when her father dies and they are left alone to start a new life on an island with families of lighthouse keepers. The pages turn quickly as you find yourself caught in the web of mother and daughter, the pain of loss and grieving while struggling to connect with one parent, your mother who isn't really a parent at all but a selfish manipulating woman who teaches Julia early on that she wants a better life for herself. I really enjoyed this short story, It leaves you wanting more. I'd love to read more about Julia and perhaps the story set a bit earlier. There's always something magical about Alice Hoffman's writing.

A brilliant and powerful story from the master Alice Hoffman. This is about growing up, mothers and daughters and finding one's place in the world.

Excellent, excellent, excellent.

Another great book!!! I love anything Alice Hoffman writes! She never disappoints me. Her storytelling astounds me!! Can't wait for her next book!!

Alice Hoffman is a great author and here she’s written an amazing story in just 28 pages!
I’ll remember 12 yr old Adeline.
This was a heart wrenching and atmospheric story. Just read it!
Available December 19th

Thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Original Stories!

Everything My Mother Taught Me by Alice Hoffman was a little book of a few pages, but a gem of a story.

A story of a young girl who loses her father whom she was very close to. A man who was genuine and caring. She chooses to stop talking after the sad loss. And then lives within a world with only a mother at her side. A mother who has none of the beautiful traits her father had

That you to Net Galley, Alice Hoffman and Amazon for giving me an advanced copy, for my honest opinion.

This short story is just under 30 pages long but carries a strong message. In simple terms I think it basically comes down to “the love you give is the love you get back”. There are so many mother-daughter books out there and being the mother of four, sometimes I feel somewhat under attack. This book, however, gets it all right.

Adeline Ivy adored her father, he gave her so much love and attention. Her mother, Nora, would rather spend her time down the street at the local tavern, loving all of the attention that she can get because of her good looks and flirty attitude. Often Adeline would have to go looking for her mother who always made her swear not to tell her father.

Sadly her father passes away when she is very young. Now her mother’s looks aren’t going to get her a job to support the two of them, at least not one that she wants. When she sees a job for a housekeeper at the lighthouse on Thacher Island on Cape Ann she thinks it sounds like the best option. This turns out to be a much harder job than she envisioned, having to cook and do the laundry for the three families that live on the island. Even with so few families she still finds a man who will give her the attention she craves.

Meanwhile Adeline thrives in this new environment. In spite of having to look after the numerous children on the island she adores the views of the sea and being surrounded by happy, boisterous children. Many years past one of the lighthouse keepers brought many plants from the mainland which actually flourished on the island and so there is still lots to explore on this rocky island. She also finds care and love from some of the other adults.

Since this is such a short book, I will stop my review here. This is a book well worth the read from the prolific and extremely talented Ms. Hoffman. I can’t wait to read another story in what is described as “Inheritance, a collection of five stories about secrets, unspoken desires, and dangerous revelations between loved ones. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single setting. By yourself, behind closed doors, or shared with someone you trust. “

I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley. It is set to publish in December of 2019.

Will review on Amazon upon publication.

Mother and daughter relationships can be and are extremely loving at most times. It can also be that there are times when even the most loving relationship falters, burns, and crashes. However, when one's parent is a narcissist, that relationship becomes lethal.

It's extremely hard having a mother such as Adeline had and it's easy to see why she retreated into a world of silence.

Since this is a very short tale, one wonders how Adeline will go forward in her life. Will she be able to cope with the memories of emotional abuse that has left her scarred with feelings of being unwanted? Perhaps she will always remember the love she had for her father and through this love, she will move forward with her life, and be happy.

“ There are those who insist that mothers are born with love for their children and place them before all things,including their own needs and desire. This was not the case with us.”

So begins this story of a mother daughter relationship and its betrayals and secrets. The author immediately drew me in with that opening line.
From the title, I thought it would be a feel good story of a mother and daughter. Well, think again!

We meet Adeline at age 12 and her mother Nora. After Adeline’s father dies, they are forced to move to a lighthouse for work. There is an underlying haunted feeling to this story, especially once they are so secluded with the other three families. I can’t say too much without giving the whole story away, so I will suffice to say that in just 28 pages, Alice Hoffman was able to convey so much!!

EVERYTHING MY MOTHER TAUGHT ME
BY ALICE HOFFMAN

For over twenty years Alice Hoffman has been one of my favorite author's. I have gone to many of her author book readings and signings and as talented as she is she seemed quite and reserved. She lives in the Boston suburbs and this short story takes place in both Boston and a rocky reef of an Island on the north shore in Marblehead, MA which in reality is an affluent seaside town where I learned to sail. In this story that takes place in the early 1900's, a young girl named Adeline and her promiscuous mother move to Thatcher's Island to take jobs in assisting three lighthouses keepers whose job is to prevent ships and boats from crashing and splintering against its rocky and treacherous terrain. Adeline is pure kindness and decides not to speak and only communicate through using paper and ink since losing her beloved father to an early death.

Madeline's mother takes something that doesn't belong to her. While Adeline's soul is pure and she has a sense of right from wrong, her mother feels entitled and resents her job which is scrubbing and cleaning. Julia, who is the wife of the third lighthouse keeper Rowan Ballard takes Adeline under her wing and the two of them concoct a plan. To say anything more would spoil this erudite crafted short story for others planning to read this. I loved this allegorical tale that Alice Hoffman was able to write with the economy of spare prose that enchanted me from start to finish. It is yet proof of her ability to craft an allegorical tale and say so much with so few words. I highly recommend this short story which proves once again that it is so wonderful and addictive that will leave you wanting more from this very gifted storyteller.

Thank you to Net Galley, Alice Hoffman and Amazon for generously providing me with my ARC.

Not realizing this was a short story I started reading. Alice Hoffman is a great author. So much in a short novel.
Adeline is a twelve year old girl whose father dies and she is left with a horrible mother. Adeline stops speaking the moment her father dies.
Her mother takes a job as housekeeper at the lighthouse and takes them away from Boston to an island forty miles away.
The lessons to be learned from this short novel. Nothing short of brilliance. I was reading and wishing for it to go on.

Thank you to the Author, Publisher and NetGalley for this eARC

✰ ✰ ✰
Everything My Mother Taught Me was an atmospheric short historical fiction story that was deceptively simple to read and yet conveyed so much with so few words. As someone who doesn’t read many short stories, I found myself wishing for this one to be extended in to a full length novel. There are some short stories that can convey everything you’d want and need in a short span of words. Unfortunately, I think the quality of this story was sacrificed by making it short.

The sacrifice in making this emotionally-packed story short was the lack of detail and connection with events and characters, respectively. If this had been a full length novel (my bias is very present here, so please bear that in mind) I imagine I’d have fallen head over heels in emotional love for Hoffman’s latest work.

“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.”

Pros:
Adeline, named after French soap, had suffered a neglectful life at the hands of her selfish adulterating mother, after the death of her beloved father. Their journey to the seaside Lighthouse town in New England was evidence of the first opportunity for Adeline to truly be happy since the passing of her father. My heart ached for the compounded loss of her father and childhood home all in one fell swoop. The story’s premise was beautifully portrayed in events and insights in to Adeline’s psyche. I would have been very happy staying there for another 200 pages.
The writing, while odd and not a usual favourite of mine, was compelling in its simplistic nature. Told in past tense, with the inclusion of frequent foreshadowing, this story was unlike one I had read in a very long time. The combination of these two features may seem unappealing to read but Hoffman’s style was captivating. The lack of dialogue, as a result of Adeline’s selective mutism wasn’t a blinding loss throughout the story.
The ending of this story was deeply satisfying. Hoffman managed to get the perfect balance between just deserts and HEA.

Cons:
The shortened length of this book made the story, while still highly intriguing, feel rushed. This is one that would have thrived as a full length historical novel. The lyrical descriptions of nature and the rural New England setting were reminiscent of Where the Crawdads Sing’s writing by Delia Owens and it genuinely felt like a loss to not give the author free reign to explore and enchant us further with the beautiful setting.
The side characters felt (mostly) two dimensional due to a lack of opportunity to develop and establish their personalities further. This could have been a result of the lack of dialogue or a spotlighted focus on each character. It felt like the other lighthouse keepers and their family were only there to set the backdrop for Adeline’s story without truly contributing to it.
Some further insight in to Adeline’s selective mutism would have added an extra layer (that wasn’t entirely required) of depth to the story. Her father’s death was named as the catalyst but other than that there wasn’t much explanation on the development of it or the establishment of alternative forms of communication.

Overall, Everything My Mother Taught Me was an atmospheric read that captured my attention and left me satisfied right through to the end. A few changes in length or description of characters could have made this an exceptional story to never forget. I plan to read the remainder of Hoffman’s Inheritance Short Story Collection to compare.

For me, to date, Alice Hoffman's novels have been a bit hit or miss, but she sure can write a short story! 'Everything my Mother Taught Me' is short but perfect and leaves the reader wanting more.

The main character is Adeline, a twelve year old girl who has the misfortune to have a mother who loves no one but herself. Fortunately Adeline is smart and strong and she has a way of solving problems. The setting is a New England light house, beautifully described and very appropriate for the events which occur.

It takes a clever author to pack so much into a short story. I must read some more of her novels!

Everything My Mother Taught Me is a short story by Alice Hoffman which is a part of the Inheritance series. It follows the life of a twelve-year-old girl, Adeline, who has the worst mother one could possibly imagine—she is selfish, uncaring, and always finds fault with Adeline. After her beloved father dies, Adeline stops talking. Her terrible mother gets hired as a housekeeper for a lighthouse and the two relocate to a small cottage on the island. There, Adeline grows fond of Julia, the wife of one of the lighthouse keepers who looks out for her and saves her from her mother a number of times. All this while, Julia is unaware that her husband is committing adultery with Adeline's mother.

Adeline finds herself reconnect with her dead father who loved the sea, as she spends her days admiring the water and the view from the lighthouse. Circumstances compel her to make tough decisions and while she is tempted to make her mother pay for all the years of torment, she comes to a reassuring conclusion—she might resemble her mother in appearance but on the inside, she has inherited her father's kindness and morality.

Alice Hoffman has managed to weave a compelling story filled with hope, in just twenty-eight pages. It depicts the journey of a child who has never known motherly love, finally get an opportunity to experience it. I'd definitely recommend it.

[I'd like to thank NetGalley, Amazon Original Stories and Alice Hoffman for this ARC.]

This is a little gem of a short story. Hoffman manages to tell a complete story in just a few pages. The characters are well developed and the narrative is compelling and complete. Always a joy to read Alice Hoffman's work.

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.