Pre-Owned Ten Circles Upon the Pond: Reflections of a Prodigal Mother (Hardcover) 0375415165 9780375415166

Publishers Weekly,Anyone who wonders how parents of multiple children keep track of their kids' names (let alone hobbies, favorite foods and distinguishing characteristics) will be impressed by Tranel's clear memories of raising her family of 10. Each chapter of this honest, occasionally nostalgic memoir is devoted to one child, from the now 46-year-old Daniel all the way down to the youngest, Adrienne, who graduated from college in 2000. Tranel's overextended but always levelheaded musings on the coming of age of her lively children are punctuated with frank discussions of outsiders' reactions to the burgeoning clan. When someone at a poetry workshop asks how many kids she has, Tranel worries, "Admitting the truth is tantamount to strolling into a Sierra Club convention and proclaiming myself a clear-cutter." And when a fellow poet wonders how overseeing a dozen people could leave any time for creative pursuits, Tranel thinks, "I've laid tile and hung wallpaper and hand-churned cream to butter and made prom dresses and curtains and coats and peace and bread; I've packed up every spoon and plate and sock and book in the house and moved more than a dozen times; I've bitten off more than I could chew and kept on chewing; I've been absorbed, frustrated, fed up and happy, but I can't explain myself to this man." Readers who begin the book wondering why the Tranels had so many children may not find a straight answer, but they will finish with a sense that this family finds strength in numbers. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved