Handed Down

In Chantal Braganza’s Story of Your Mother, the mother of the title is the author herself. Through a series of unnamed and unnumbered essays, some not much more than a few lines long, the Chatelaine deputy editor explores parenthood in tender and evocative scenes that grapple with larger ideas about identity and belonging.

Braganza dips in and out of the second person. On some pages, she addresses her eldest child directly, anticipating a question he has yet to ask: “Where am I from?” She shares stories from his life, from her life before him, and from the lives of his grandparents: “I can tell you this one day, when you haven’t asked, precisely because you aren’t likely to. I often think about the ways your life may have indirectly answered the question for you already.” By weaving together intergenerational experiences, Braganza reiterates how the circumstances of those who come before help to shape the person one becomes. With reference...