In this riveting, poignant memoir of three generations of women and the white dresses that adorned them—television producer Mary Pflum Peterson recounts a journey through loss and redemption, and her battle to rescue her mother, a former nun, from compulsive hoarding.
As a successful television journalist at Good Morning America, Mary Pflum is known as a polished and highly organized producer. … producer. It’s a persona at odds with her tortured childhood, where she watched her emotionally vulnerable mother fill their house with teetering piles of assorted “treasures.” But one thing has always united mother and daughter—their love of white dresses. From the dress worn by Mary’s mother when she became a nun and married Jesus, to the wedding gown she donned years later, to the special nightshirts she gifted Mary after the birth of her children, to graduation dresses and christening gowns, these white dresses embodied hope and new beginnings.
After her mother’s sudden death in 2010, Mary digs deep to understand the events that led to Anne’s unraveling. At twenty-one, Anne entered a convent, committed to a life of prayer and helping others. But lengthy periods of enforced fasting, isolation from her beloved students, and constant humiliation eventually drove her to flee the convent almost a decade later. Hoping to find new purpose as a wife and mother, Anne instead married an abusive, closeted gay man—their eventual divorce another sign of her failure.
Anne retreats into chaos. By the time Mary is ten, their house is cluttered with broken appliances and stacks of unopened mail. Anne promises but fails to clean up for Mary’s high school graduation party, where Mary is being honored as her school’s valedictorian, causing her perfectionist daughter’s fear and shame to grow in tandem with the heaps upon heaps of junk. In spite of everything, their bond endures. Through the white dresses, pivotal events in their lives are celebrated, even as Mary tries in vain to save Anne from herself.
Unflinchingly honest, insightful, and compelling, White Dresses is a beautiful, powerful story—and a reminder of the unbreakable bonds between mothers and daughters.
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Bittersweet memoir. If you think your life was hard, read this book.
loved it
I would give this book ten stars if I could. A wonderful story lovingly tied together with white dresses from significant moments in their lives
It was both heart warming and heartbreaking. It was a well written memoir of 3 generations giving the reader insight into the love and dysfunction of the women in the family.
Wonderful insight into the emotional impact hoarding and shame have on an entire family. Great read.
Loved reading this book. I could relate to the characters and couldn’t stop reading until I finished.
This book was a painful true to life read for me. I was raised by a woman who suffered from recurrent depression, now I am the old woman mama with the same disease and it is my daughter who responds to me the way that the author/daughter responds to her mother: with great love, need and fear. It is so life-true. I told my husband after reading it that I could see myself in the same case should he die before me. It is not that I need to hoard things, but that I am unattached to my house and would feel so tired with depression that I would not clean much. I would also be fearful about dealing with things breaking down, and just let them be. Depression steals energy and health from a person, makes them so tired that they just do not function fully. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand what it is like growing up with a mother ill with depression, hopeful only in faith, and yet devoted to her children. A true and sad portrait, yet I admired the daughter for recognizing the strengths as well as the weakness of her parent.
This book had my interest from the very beginning! I loved reading of the 3 generations of women and the mother/daughter relationships. This being a true story is even better!
A study across generations, with strong women. A good read for a book club.
This book will make you sad and happy and tearful and joyful. Excellent depiction of a mother and daughter in the real world with real issues and real solutions. Loved it . LC NY
A real life memoir that highlights the joys, sorrows, and sometimes dysfunctions of a real family. Some places made me want to cry. But it is a testament that lack of perfection can still lead to amazing outcomes.
I loved this book.
The author wrote about the complicated disorder of hoarding. Great insight into this disorder and how the author dealt with her mother’s illness.
I really enjoyed the book all the way thru. I would recommend this book.
I found this book haunting and so reminiscent of the structure and laws the church imposed before Vatican 2. Sad really!
Those who like The Glass Castle would love this book