'Mothers of the Mind' - a new book on famous female authors

Torquay author Rachel Trethewey is exploring the family background of some of history’s greatest female writers.
‘Mothers of the Mind’ is a journey into the mothers of Agatha Christie, Virginia Woolf and Sylvia Plath, looking at their influence on the lives of three remarkable storytellers.
The book was launched last week with Rachel a guest speaker at the Agatha Christie Festival last Friday which happens to be the birth date of both Agatha and her mother, Clara Miller.
“I first had the idea for Mothers of the Mind when I was going around an exhibition at the Tate of St Ives in 2018,” said Rachel. “When I saw a quotation from Virginia Woolf, “We think back through our mothers if we are women,” it immediately resonated with me.
“Seeing this statement alongside a bewitching photograph of her mother, Julia Stephen, I wanted to find out who this mesmerising figure was. She looked like Virginia, but there was also something elusive about her. I wanted to discover what she was really like and explore her relationship with her daughter.
“As I thought about Virginia and Julia, I wondered if the quotation was equally true for other female writers. As an avid reader of literary biographies, I was aware that Agatha Christie and Sylvia Plath also had fascinating relationships with their mothers, Clara Miller and Aurelia Plath. Doing more research, I found their attitudes to life, literature and feminism were shaped by these formidable women.
“Too often in the past these authors have been defined by their relationship with their lovers, this book redresses the balance by focussing on their bond with their mothers. My book tells Julia’s, Clara’s, and Aurelia’s life stories in full, showing that they were remarkable women in their own rights, not just interesting because they were their daughters’ mothers. Aspiring authors themselves, they were their daughters first readers and critics. Later, when they became famous authors, Virginia, Agatha, and Sylvia drew on their memories of their mothers to create some of their most compelling characters.”