The Red Kitchen

At the age of seven, Barbara witnesses a frightening incident between her parents. She goes on to spend much of her childhood toggling between the happy family she longs for and the unhappy one shes in but cant repair. Disturbed by the smell of rotting leaves and an uneasy feeling about her father, she will spend half her life trying to get to the bottom of the reasons why. As an adult, a summer in Africa allows Barbara to live without labelswife, mother, daughter, sisterand become the woman she wants to be: funny, compassionate, complex, and often flawed. The Red Kitchen is the story of both Barbara and her mother, who, like many women, both spend much of their lives surrendering to societys expectation to be one thing while yearning to be another. Ultimately, both womenin very different wayscome of age, find the loving parts of their mother-daughter relationship, and start living their best lives.