Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor
Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor’s Traveling with Pomegranates chronicles the travels of mother and daughter as they visit archaeological sites, museums, and sacred places in Greece, Turkey, and France. The chapters alternate between mother and daughter with each one trying to cope with her own existential crisis—the mother because she is turning fifty, the daughter because she was rejected from the graduate school of her choice. During their travels, they redefine themselves and form a close bond. This is all very interesting, but. . .
They were traveling in Europe, seeing the most amazing sights that many of us will never have the opportunity to visit, and yet they spent most of their time indulging in self-recrimination and self-absorbed navel gazing. Instead of appreciating that they have the time, the financial support, and the family support to travel as much as they do, they wallow in self- pity and engage in self-analysis and analysis of each other.
I was looking forward to reading this book because I love mythology and the ancient sites associated with myths. I enjoyed the sections where mother and daughter actually described the sights they visited. But these were too few and too far between. For the most part, they used the sights as platforms to veer back to their very privileged selves and whine about their angst. Disappointing, to say the least.