"Until my granddaughter, Isabelle Eva, was born in 2006, I had no clue just how complicated — and full of wonder — the role of grandmother could be," says journalist and playwright Barbara Graham. "But when I turned to the place I always turn to for wisdom — books — I couldn’t find anything literary that addressed my alternately joyful, perplexing, painful, amusing — but always profound — new status."
And so Eye of My Heart: 27 Writers Reveal the Hidden Pleasures and Perils of Being a Grandmother (Harper, 2009) was born. In the book, 27 writers, including Anne Roiphe, Judith Viorst, Sallie Tisdale, Ellen Gilchrist, Susan Shreve, and Graham herself tell "the whole crazy, complicated truth about being a grandmother in today's world," from learning to keep their mouths shut, to the joys and stresses of traveling with children, to trying to live up to the standards set by their own mothers and grandmothers. Publishers Weekly has called the book "insightful and candid, sometimes painfully so."
Barbara Graham on Grandparents.com
Now Graham is bringing the voices of Eye of My Heart to you:
* She is contributing regular columns to the site about her own role as a long-distance grandmother and about the stories of joy and hardship she hears from the thousands of other grandmothers she meets as she tours the nation promoting the book. Her first column focuses on an issue close to her own heart — finding her place as the mother of the father, or the "other grandmother."
* She'll also launch a new blog about her experiences and travels, Grandparents Unplugged.
Learn More About the Book
Find out more about the stories and writers in Eye of My Heart at the book's official website, buy it on amazon.com, and watch Graham and others discuss the book in the video below:
* And she wants to hear from you. What issues are you grappling with as a grandparent? Send her your thoughts.
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