A review by jedore
Traveling With Pomegranates: A Mother-Daughter Story by Sue Monk Kidd

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

3.5

“My children have always existed at the deepest center of me, right there in the heart/hearth, but I struggled with the powerful demands of motherhood, chafing sometimes at the way they pulled me away from my separate life, not knowing how to balance them with my unwieldy need for solitude and creative expression.”

This is a reflective memoir co-authored by Sue Monk Kidd and her daughter, Ann Kidd Taylor. The book follows their journeys through Greece and France as they each navigate pivotal moments in their lives—Sue grappling with the transition into midlife and the empty-nest phase, and Ann seeking direction after college while struggling with self-doubt. As they explore these ancient lands, their personal reflections deepen, revealing the complexity of their mother-daughter relationship and their own individual quests for identity and purpose.

This book was not what I expected. For no clear reason, I assumed it was about a mom-daughter U.S. road trip, not an introspective journey through Greece and France. I liked how Greek mythology was a significant part of the storytelling; not being Christian, I couldn't relate at all with the large amount of content about Mary (mother of Jesus).

As a mother of an adult daughter whom I cherish, I was eager to dive into this book. We moms can always use all the help we can get as we navigate the sometimes-tricky terrain of relating to our daughters as they enter adulthood. This book invited me to reflect on my own relationship, and I was interested in the way Sue and Ann shared their different perspectives. The lesson of never taking anything personally was constantly running through my head. 

Beyond the mother-daughter relationship, the book is a good one for empty-nester women who are looking to redefine their lives in a new chapter and for young women at the end of college who are struggling to launch themselves into the world.

While I found bits and pieces of the book helpful, the pacing was quite slow for me. It’s a very reflective narrative that moves at a gentle, sometimes sluggish, pace. At times, it felt like it dragged, and it wasn’t one of those books I was rushing to pick up again.

Any woman with a deep love of Greece or an appreciation for its mythology, history, and landscape will especially enjoy the book.