Skip to main content  Mothers and Daughters   Mothers and
Daughters  In MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS, Rae Meadows explores three
women of one matriarchal line --- their relationships, their
hidden lives, and their secrets. From outstanding descriptions
of turn-of-the-century New York to present-day Sanibel Island,
their individual stories are woven together in a pleasing
format.  Violet is 12. She and her mother, Lilibeth, landed in
New York after Lilibeth decided to leave Kentucky, the husband
she doesn't love, and a hard-scrabble life she thought her looks
would help her avoid. She is also running from the stillbirth of
her son, whom she held for two days before allowing to be
buried. They arrive in New York completely unprepared, but
Lilibeth soon finds that by turning on her southern charm, she
can eke out enough money from various men to support a newfound
opium habit. Violet is left on her own for days at a time but
falls in with a group of newsboys and other street urchins. They
soon help her hone her skills