Book Review: Persephone’s Garden by Glynnis Fawkes

August 22, 2025

I am not sure what this book was about other than the journey through girlhood, womanhood, and then into motherhood. Not only through the authors eyes, but also in watching her own daughter grow and her own mother begin to lose all her memory. I laughed more times than I would have thought about a book about the overall experience of being a woman. Glynnis’ daughter, Helen, is a funny little spitfire who I imagine my own daughter will be a lot like. Towards the end of the book, she discusses her mothers memory fading away from her due to Alzheimers and knowing that she will likely suffer the same loss in her own life, and it is a wildly beautiful and deeply moving sentiment. She is trying to capture so much of the life she is living and the experiences she is having through work, motherhood, and life, while coping with her mother losing what makes her, her.

There were definitely moments in this book that I felt a little like I wasn’t really sure what was going on, but I will say, now that I have finished it, that is kind of the point. It was so full of actual life, and some times actual life doesn’t seem to really connect or follow a pattern.

I think I really liked this book and I think I would suggest it.