Presented to: Marilyn Arnold
For: Bittersweet: A Daughter's Memoir
In Bittersweet: A Daughter’s Memoir, Marilyn Arnold presents a humane history of her relationship with her mother. Professor Arnold exhibits an uncanny ability to captivate readers who can identify both painfully and joyfully with her. The book reveals a relationship whose dimensions are unique to the author and her mother but also strikingly common to mothers and daughters everywhere. It resonates with readers. It is a healing book, a therapeutic read. It helps readers cope with necessary losses.
For literary power and grace, for candor and compassion, for uncommon insight and expression, the Association for Mormon Letters awards its 2011 prize for Biography to Marilyn Arnold for Bittersweet: A Daughter’s Memoir.