(published in Common Ground Magazine, January 2007)
Peace Mom: A Mother’s Journey through Heartache to Activism
By Cindy Sheehan
(Atria Books)
To protest the war in Iraq that killed her son, Casey, Cindy Sheehan camped outside Pres. Bush’s house in Texas for months. Peace Mom recounts her passionate journey from homemaker to antiwar activist.
The book is organized more or less chronologically, beginning with Casey’s birth and finishing with the results of Sheehan’s time at Camp Casey. But within each chapter, the author jumps from past to present, or from narrative to exposition. It’s part autobiography, part persuasive essay, part refutation against her attackers and part angry tirade. Powerful as her story is, such stylistic jumping sometimes makes the book feel scattered and redundant.
But it’s possible that leaving the text a bit raw was an editorial choice. Sheehan’s tone is conversational and accessible, and her emotion is palpable. The flaws in the writing make her seem normal and human, as if to say: “This isn’t some polished story created by the anti-war propaganda machine. It’s me, or you, writing about living through the most horrible experience imaginable.”
It’s unlikely this book will change the minds of anyone on the other side of the fence, but it will certainly be a valuable resource for other mothers like Sheehan — especially those who already oppose, or are beginning to question, the war. And for someone like me, untouched by the war in an immediate sense but certainly aware of Camp Casey, it’s a fascinating explanation of how this “regular” woman went from housewife to household name. —Molly Freedenberg
Comments