Aunties Thirty-Five Writers Celebrate Their Oth

Anauntisnotjustanothermother—andauntsdefyanysortofarchetypalimage.Likehumanity，theyspanthespectrum，fromdown-homeAuntieEmtotheuninhibitedAuntieMame.Someauntsaresmart，othersarecrazy.Someactbravely，othersdownrightfoolish.NowinIngridSturgis’smarvelousAunties，shegivestheseextraordinarywomentheirdue，sharingawonderful，eclecticcollectionofthirtypersonalessaysthatexplorethecomplex，seldom-profiledbondbetweenauntsandtheirniecesandnephews.Profilingavarietyofauntsfromdifferentcultures，temperaments，andwalksoflife—thesurrogatemother，thewildaunt，theeccentricaunt，thementor—theessaysarewrittenbywell-knownjournalistsandauthorssuchasPearlCleageandM.J.Rose，aswellaseverydaypeople...allofwhombringtheirsubjectstostirringlifeintheirownuniqueways.“TiaSonia”madeherlivingasanold-worldwitchinHonduras，providingherniece，BeverlyJames，withatenuousconnectiontothecountryofherbirth—andimpartingavaluablelessonaftershefailstopredictherowntragicdemise;thedramaticandglamorous“TropicalAunts”—alsoknownasAuntDebsandAuntAva—venturednorthfromFloridaonlytwice，butleftanindeliblemarkonEnidShomer’sideasaboutbeinganindependentwoman;intheheartwarming“Bloodsense，”MarkHolt-Shannon’smagicalAuntLolly，awomanwithaheartasbigastheocean，providedunconditionallove—andabridgebetweenthreeboysandthefatherwholeftthemallbehind.Awonderfulcelebrationoffamily，Auntiesisalaboroftheheartandashowofreverencetothewomenwhoseintangiblegiftsofloveandrespectoftenpasswithoutrecognition.Throughthevividmemoriesofrealrelationships，thesenarrativespaytributetoauntseverywhere.