What We Carry

A powerful sense of generosity and immediacy comes through in Maya Shanbhag Lang's narration of her tender memoir on motherhood and family. She beautifully conveys her path to acceptance of trying circumstances, allowing listeners to feel as though they themselves are capably meeting Lang's challenges. A wife and mother, she was beginning a writing career when she moved her own mother--who was suffering from early-onset Alzheimer's and was down to 87 pounds--into her home to care for her. Her tone remains graceful as she works to find balance in her life. Her delivery reflects her formerly stoic mother's soft Indian accent as Lang depicts her diminishing faculties. Lang's gift for achieving harmony under difficult circumstances will resonate with listeners, especially those who experience being members of the sandwich generation. M.J. � AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine