When Williams' mother died, she gave Williams all of her journals and told her to read them. Williams was honored to be trusted with her mother's record of her life. She went to the shelf full of journals, and found that every single one of them was empty. Her mother had a journal for every year of her life, but had not written a word in them.

This is the beginning of Williams' poetic reflection on women's voices, on what it means for women to have something to say and to say it. Along the way, she also reflects a lot on nature and relationships - romantic relationships and relationships between daughters and mothers and generations of women. She reflects on all of the pressures that silence women, particularly their imperative to sacrifice themselves to care for their children and spouses.

This is one of those books I could read over and over, and find something new in it every time. I first read it at a time in my life when I am newly free of obligations to care for other people and I have the freedom to exist solely for myself, and I am trying to find my voice. The next time I read it, I am sure different parts of it will speak to me in entirely different ways. ( )

Gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous. A must read. ( )

This is a beautiful book about the writing process sometimes, about the challenges of being a woman, about relationships with other women and our mothers. ( )

I devoured this book. It is beautifully written and allows the reader to consume the content in small bites which are full of words that will ring deep in your soul. This book is part memoir to the author's mother and part discussion about how women voices are heard or not heard in the world. I also learned that Terry Tempest Williams had a strong hand in the beginnings of conservation within this country. I've already added the rest of her books to my 'to-read' list and I am excited to continue my reading journey with her. ( )

This was not my favorite book by this author but even so, she is a wonderful writer. Each section touched on important aspects of her life - love, religion, voice, family or origin. She has an incredible ability to vary her form and appear to veer off in many directions only to weave all the pieces together in the end. ( )