My Mother's Name

My Mother’s Name

One of the Holland’s best-known novelists, Hannes Meinkema published her first collection of short stories, The Moon eater, in 1974. The following short story, My Mother’s Name, first appeared in this collection which portrays women’s lives through the eyes of women writers from nine different countries. The situation that she has highlighted in the story reflects her personal life, the divorce of her parents and the arrival of an outsider. This situation offers identical possibilities of despair or contentment.

This story highlights the conflict between a daughter and her mother (Lisbeth). It visualizes the various scenarios, which the daughter and the mother face after the divorce. This divorce completely shattered Lisbeth’s personality and left her daughter hopeless. Lisbeth always knew the way everything was ought to be done but after divorce she became entirely unsure about herself. This incident hit her so badly that she got comprehended from d...