White Walls

A Memoir About Motherhood, Daughterhood, and the Mess in Between

By: Judy Batalion

Narrated by: Rachel Botchan

A memoir of mothers and daughters, hoarding, and healing.

Judy Batalion grew up in a house filled with endless piles of junk and layers of crumbs and dust; suffocated by tuna fish cans, old papers and magazines, swivel chairs, tea bags, clocks, cameras, printers, VHS tapes, ballpoint pens - obsessively gathered and stored by her hoarder mother. The first chance she had, she escaped the clutter to create a new identity - one made of order, regimen, and clean white walls. Until, one day, she found herself enmeshed in life's biggest chaos: motherhood.

Confronted with the daunting task of raising a daughter after her own dysfunctional childhood, Judy reflected on not only her own upbringing but the lives of her mother and grandmother, Jewish Polish immigrants who had escaped the Holocaust. What she discovered astonished her. The women in her family, despite their differences, were even more closely connected than she ever knew - from her grandmother Zelda to her daughter of the same name. And, despite the hardships of her own mother-daughter relationship, it was that bond that was slowly healing her old wounds.

Told with heartbreaking honesty and humor, this is Judy's poignant account of her trials negotiating the messiness of motherhood and the indelible marks that mothers and daughters make on each other's lives.

©2016 Judy Batalion (P)2016 Recorded Books

beautiful mother daughter story!

loved this book. I was definitely lost in the story, right there with Judy in all those moments.

Interesting look at hoarding and love

Though a bit long, a good story of overcoming ones stifling home of hoarding mother. The author finds a way into ordered life and love.

well written and told

Enjoyed this book as it gave good insight into how children of hoarder feel and what they have to deal with daily.