‘Traveling with Pomegranates’ is a travel memoir written by Sue Monk Kidd and her daughter, Ann Kidd Taylor. It chronicles their journeys through Greece, Turkey, and France, but transcends the typical travel writing piece in more ways than one. Alternating between chapters, mother and daughter write in frank voices while reflecting on their own life transitions. Their travels and writing center around the Greek myth of Demeter and Persephone as well as religious figures such as Mary.
I found myself immediately relating to Ann, who is about to graduate college at the beginning of the book. She doesn’t know what she wants to do with her life until she travels to Greece and realizes her passion for it. However, her rejection from graduate school launches her into a debilitating depression that her mother doesn’t come to know about until much later. Sue herself struggles with the realization that she is getting older as she sees her own daughter so grown up. Both women are very introspective and use the mythic stories and figures surrounding them to make sense of their situations.
As I read this memoir, I found myself reflecting on my own relationship with my mom. I would be lying if I said our relationship has stayed completely the same since I started college. I could relate to the reality of Ann and Sue re-navigating their relationship and realizing that there was a barrier of sorts between them. Living away from home, my mom knows less about daily happenings than before college started, and I also feel slightly different when I come home to visit. I am, just as Ann in the book, in the process of discovering my own identity and creating a life path separate from my family.
The book also explores both women’s relationships with themselves. Although Ann’s rejection from graduate school causes her depression, it is this depression that allows her to find herself and realize that she is not defined by that one part of her life – a realization that most of us have a hard time truly accepting. Sue faces the reality of aging and goes through an emotional process of denial, grief, and acceptance – even though I related to Ann more because she was closer to my age, I found myself deeply moved by Sue’s personal journey as well.
Overall, this book was very enjoyable because of the connections I felt with the two authors. Both used honest voices that felt refreshing as well as inspiring, helping me to realize that change is hard for everyone but that its inevitability helps us grow and discover ourselves.
