Family conflicts and the complicated relationships they involve usually provide good plots for books. Some authors choose to use personal experiences, while others like Pamela Morisi are able to conjure equally interesting material from their minds.
These types of stories have a different affect on each reader. Whether fiction or non-fiction, as readers we can usually relate to the characters in some way. We are able empathize with the characters, or merely sympathize because we either wish our lives could be like the characters' in the books or we are glad that our lives are not like theirs.
One of the most complex and problematical family dynamics can be that between a parent and child. In her novel "The Cotton Queen," Pamela Morisi tells the story of the relationship between a mother and daughter, each of whom endures well more than her fair share of pain, injustice and misfortune.
The book chronicles the lives of the mother, Babs, and the daughter, Laney, from the time Babs is 14 to her daughter's birth at age 18, to her granddaughter's senior year in high school. Living mainly in McKinney, Texas, during this 65-year span of time, readers are given the story of these women's lives from both of their points of view. Each chapter switches between Babs and Laney, usually overlapping in terms of the events described, so each woman can give her side of the story.
The book opens with Laney arguing with her daughter about her being the McKinney Cotton Queen. It seems it was Grandma Babs' idea for her to enter and Laney disagrees with the entire concept of beauty pageants. This gives readers the first indication of the type of relationship between the two main characters.
We are soon transported through memories, back to Laney's birth. Despite being a work of fiction, Morisi offers readers clear glimpses into what it was like to grow up and live in the different eras of the 20th century in America. It begins in a time when the Civil Rights movement had barely begun and takes us all the way through the assassination of JFK, the draft, Reagan's election and eventually to the present. We see all of this as a backdrop to the events closer to Babs and Laney, both positive and negative, and how they poorly and successfully handle the many obstacles they face in their own journeys toward happiness in themselves and their own mother-daughter bond.
As we read the story we can identify common sentiments felt by both a parent and a child. Parents also hold the thought, "I don't want you to make the same mistakes I made" in their minds and try to rectify any errors they believe were made in their childhoods or even adulthoods for their children. For Babs, one of her regrets was being named First Runner Up for "The Cotton Queen" competition. So she forces Laney, hard working and studious of her own account, but rebellious against her mother, to enter the pageant as well.
Babs does not understand the changes that have come with the times and the differences in the priorities of many women. She also sees it as important for her daughter to marry well and early, while Laney wants to attend college. As a young mother in the 1950s, all Babs could hope to aspire to be was a telephone operator or secretary. By the time Laney was graduating, her cousin was over in Vietnam and sex outside of marriage was becoming more and more common. Despite her good intentions, Babs pushes Laney further and further away from her and her beliefs.
All children seek liberation from their parents at one time or another, but from an early age, Laney had that familiar thought in her head, "I don't want to turn out like my mother" and being told that she was just like her mother only intensified her desire to go against everything her mother told her.
If I had a mother who was constantly scrubbing the house, changing the wallpaper and working at bettering her social standing, I might have felt similar. However, I can relate to Laney on a smaller scale. All my life I have been told I look like my mom, which, although annoying, does not make me want to go and dye my hair blonde or anything.
With Babs' overbearing need to make suggestions and Laney's stubborn refusal to take any of her mother's advice, it takes a long time to mend their relationship. On the way, there are more broken pieces to pick up and more struggles to overcome, but the way these two women persevere both together and apart is inspiring.
"The Cotton Queen" stands out from Pamela Morisi's large collection of romance novels by making romantic relationships of Babs and Laney a sideshow to the deeper more meaningful relationship between the two of them. Among the others, this one stands out in plot and craftsmanship, and in its ability to reach its readers.
Meghan Dunlap is a junior majoring in Spanish and elementary education. Let her know how you feel about "The Cotton Queen" or other books like it by e-mailing her at [email protected].
