Shaun Usher - Mothers

It could be argued that we first correspond with our mothers from the comfort of the womb, our earliest letters instantly delivered in the form of kicks, punches, elbows, shoves and headbutts a fittingly bumpy warning that at least two human lives are soon to change immeasurably, and forever. In some cases, this sets the tone for the entire relationship between mother and child, and marks the beginning of a lifelong struggle to co-exist; for others this may be the last exchange they have. However, for most, this flurry of urgent messages marks the beginning of a connection that will remain throughout the lives of those involved, and in some ways beyond.

Letters of Note: Mothers is a celebration of this most fundamental and complicated of human bonds by way of old-fashioned correspondence: a collection of thirty letters written to, from or about mothers that may humour, anger, comfort or sadden you depending on your current situation, the day of the week, the look your daughter just gave you, the tone of your mums latest text, or the entirely unreasonable manner in which your son emptied the dishwasher before disappearing upstairs to his bedroom, which, by the way, hasnt been tidied since July, and have I told you about his new tattoo?

The oldest letter in this volume was written in the fourth century AD by a young Egyptian girl mourning her mothers death; the most recent was sent in 2018 by a young English woman who was inspired by the plot of a movie to write to hers. In the years between, you will find a letter from a disappointed mother, sent to an underachieving teenage son who went on to lead his country to victory in World War II; a fiery exchange of letters between a Hollywood leading lady and her daughter, which for some reason they published in their respective memoirs for all to see; a heartbreaking yet beautiful letter from a terminally ill woman to her young daughters, in which she explains her predicament; a farewell letter from a twenty-three-year-old kamikaze pilot to his mother, written a few days before his final mission; and much more.

While researching this book, two things quickly became evident that I think are worth mentioning. The first is that the majority of correspondence from mothers to their children is written when those offspring are very young or even in utero hope-filled, brightly lit letters in which these fresh, unblemished humans are welcomed into the world with words of much needed advice. But what I also came to realise is that most missives in the opposite direction, from child to mother, are written at the other end of the life cycle, when those parents are nearing the end of their lives or have recently passed away farewell letters, often laced with regret at not having communicated enough, at times when it mattered.

Put simply and I apologise for sounding like your mum lets write more letters to our mothers during the large expanse of time