Ann Hannah, My (Un)Remarkable Grandmother

Overview

Ann Hannah was an ordinary, no-nonsense, practical woman. While a constant and caring presence in the life of her granddaughter Betty McLellan, she remained emotionally distant. In an effort to understand her grandmother, Betty has used Ann Hannah's everyday expressions as a starting point to uncover the truth about her life. These words and phrases, heard countless times during Betty's childhood, are the clues to a life that, like those of many working-class women in the early 1900s, was fraught with challenges and difficulties and ignored by historians. Written with a sharp feminist consciousness that displays both compassion and intellect, this astute psychological biography tells the story of a resilient woman who, when placed in circumstances beyond her control, managed to live a good life.

Reviews

This book is guaranteed to generate the most fascinating conversations about grandmothers. Dr Betty McLellan, psychotherapist and feminist activist, brings experience and insight to this vital work of unearthing. In this calm, strong biography, Ann Hannah is thoughtfully brought to life for us. This tender provocation of a book prompts us to pay profound attention to our 'unremarkable' grandmothers ? to take the time to remark upon, and value, the women's history embedded in their unrecorded lives. –Gina Mercer, author of Parachute Silk: Friends, Food, Passion – A Novel in Letters

Author Biography

A feminist ethicist and psychotherapist with over 20 years experience, Betty McLellan is the author of Help! I'm Living with a Man Boy, which has been translated into 16 languages. She is also the author of Overcoming Anxiety (1992), Beyond Psychoppression (1995), and Unspeakable: A feminist ethic of speech (2010). With a focus on both the personal and the political, Betty successfully combines her work as a psychotherapist with a broader emphasis on a feminist ethical analysis and activism. She lives in Townsville, North Queensland.