Things I Want My Daughters To Know, by Elizabeth Noble

Barbara Forbes, mother of four, is dying of terminal cancer. Barbara is the glue that holds the family together; they all need her to survive. Barbara realizes that her daughters will be forced to embark upon life’s many journeys without her there to guide them. So she writes each of them a letter, endowing upon them a bit of motherly truth and wisdom. Lisa is oldest daughter. In her mid-thirties, she’s afraid of commitment. Jennifer’s marriage is just steps away from falling apart. Amanda, the world traveler, never seems to stick around long enough to form any type of relationship with her sisters. Hannah, a teenager, seems to be suffering the most. She’s entering the rebellious streak that hits most teens and doesn’t have a mother to reel her back in. The girls allow the letters to guide them through their grieving process. Each girl deals with the grief differently. Their reactions aren’t sugar-coated and that adds to the honesty and believability of this book.