Who Do You Think You Are?: A Memoir [Paperback]

After her mother's death, Alyse Myers covets only one thing: a wooden box that sits in the back of a closet.Its contents have been kept from her for her entire life. When she was thirteen years old her mother promised she could have the box, when I'm dead. In fact, it'll be my present to you.

Growing up in Queens in the 1960s and '70s, Alyse always yearned for more in life, while her mother settled for an unhappy marriage, an unsatisfying job, and ultimately a joyless existence. Her father drifts in and out of their home. There are harrowing fights, abject cruelty, and endless uncertainty. Throughout her childhood Alyse adamantly rejects everything about her mother's lifestyle, leaving her mother to ask Who do you think you are?

A personal portrait of a mother and daughter,Who Do You Think You Are?explores the profound and poignant revelations that so often can come to light only after a parent has died. Balancing childhood memories with adult observations, Alyse Myers creates a riveting and deeply moving narrative.Alyse Myers lives in New York City with her husband and daughter.  This is her first book.Discussion Questions
1. That box would give me the answers to my questions: Who were my parents really -- and why did my mother end up with so very little in her life (page 7). What answers, if any, did the contents of the box give the author? What did you think was going to be hidden away in that box? Do you think the contents help explain the author's relationship with her mother? Why or why not?
2. What is the significance of the book's title,Who Do You Think You Are?How does the author answer this question? If asked, how do you think her mother would respond to this question?
3. Here's how you'll get her back, he told me. I looked at him, not understanding how that diary would help me. Write it down, he said (page 39). Do you think keeping a journal helped the author work through her anger or just allƒO