Rx: “Mrs. Everything”
Prescribed by: New York Times Bestselling Author, Jennifer Weiner
Prescribed for: Fans of Ms. Magazine, Joan Baez, and the women’s movement
Side Effects: Tightness in your chest and widening of your eyes as you comprehend just how far women have come and why we cannot have our course reversed.
Directions: A funny, poignant, gut-wrenching, spirited, and empowering novel about two sisters who grew up in Detroit in the 1950’s and follows their very divergent paths away from self-loathing and toward self-awareness over the course of almost 70 years. The author uses the stories of these two women to weave together an understanding of societal constraints and changing societal norms during those decades.
Jo and her sister, Bethie, could not be more different. Jo is the athletic, nerdy, smart-alecky older sister while younger sister, Bethie, is the beauty with a lovely singing voice and a flair for drama. Everything changes after the death of their father when their mother must join the workforce to support her daughters. The sisters struggle to define themselves during the turbulent 60’s at the University of Michigan where Jo takes part in rallies for equal rights, while Bethie experiments with drugs and the counterculture. Decisions they make then will have far-reaching consequences for the women they become and the children that they raise.
Special Instructions: For many years, Bethie lives and works at Blue Hill Farm, a commune in Georgia known for farm-fresh offerings that they trade and sell at the local farmer’s market and co-op. Their jams are the stuff of legend and any flavor would work nicely in these Blackberry Jam Sweet Rolls. While you are at the farmer’s market, pick up some rhubarb too for these delicious, summertime, Rhubarb Mojito cocktails:
Blackberry Jam Sweet Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting – Eat Cake For Dinner
Farm Fresh Rhubarb Mojito – La Petite Farmhouse
Refill: here
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