Barbara W. Freedman

Barbara W. Freedman with her Bouvier des Flandres, a cousin of the novel's Mephisto

About the Author

Like Esther and her mother, Rosa, Barbara W. Freedman was born in New York City. Like them, she has lived in Greenwich Village, close to Washington Square Park.

Unlike Esther and Rosa, she does not write poetry. She has freelanced articles to The New York Times (for a sampling, see adjoining column under picture of Washington Square Arch) and has a graduate degree in Physical Chemistry from New York University, which is a strong presence in the novel. She is a member of the Authors Guild.

Married to a retired phamaceutical company executive and the mother of an adult son, Jonathan, but no daughter, she bases her insights into the Mother/Daughter relationship on having been a daughter herself. While she shares some personality traits with Esther, the daughter in her novel, she hopes her own child-raising techniques haven't been the inspiration for Rosa's aggressive mini-management of her adult daughter, Esther.

She has been reluctant to ask her son's opinion about the topic.

Click to E-mail me!

Links

Authors Guild

Welcome

Set in Greenwich Village, ESTHER and ROSA or How My Mother's Broken Toilet Brought Us Together is the story of the prickly reconciliation of Rosa with her college-age daughter, Esther. Both are poets, but their styles clash as strongly as their personalities: all of Esther's poems rhyme while none of her mother's do.

When Rosa's toilet breaks, Esther, who considers sharing a bathroom as intimate as two people can get without having sex, impusively invites her mother to move in with her. She anticipates having to cope with Rosa's aggressive meddling for no more than a week. Instead, their togetherness lasts the entire summer.

To Esther's surprise, Rosa enlists her help in planning a fundraising Gala for the Hard Luck Poets Society, a charity founded by Rosa to help destitute poets. The story ends on the night of the Gala with mother and daughter recognizing their new acceptance of each other and the adjustment each is forced to make toward the man in her life.

Washington Square Arch Greenwich Village

A Sampling of Articles from The New York Times

   This 'UX' Prefers Her Proper Name
   "--one facet of the (property tax) refund sticks in my craw: the check is payable to FREEDMAN HENRY H ETUX."

   Are Libraries Doomed To Dry Up And Blow Away?
   "My mother tied a ribbon in my hair the day she took me to the public library for my first card. I wore my best dress and I was nervous."

   Election Day and the Right Decision
   "It's that time of year again and, frankly, I'm scared. It isn't the lengthening night that frightens me or the death of summer. It's Election Day."

   Smile--You've Nothing to Lose But Your Prejudices
   "When I actually was a girl, and a young girl at that, I loathed being called 'girlie.' No one called equally young boys 'boyie.' "

   By Steamer Through Norway's Fjords
   "Hurtigrute is Norwegian for the 'Express Route' operated by steamers--(along) the western coast of Norway. It also translates into one of the few remaining opportunities--to experience life aboard a working ship."

   A Detour Along the Primrose Path
   "I am a peaceable person.--But each year, come summer, I undergo a transformation.--I become a pesticidal maniac."