Love, Finally: Untangling the Knot Between Mothers, Daughters, and Food

We all inherit stories about belonging, bodies, and worth. Many of those stories begin with our mothers.

An illuminating inquiry into the complicated relationship between what we eat, what our mothers taught us, and what we believe about ourselves—from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Women Food and God

"This book is both a love letter and a must-read for every woman who's struggled to find peace with her body, her mother, and food.”—Christie Tate, New York Times bestselling author of Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life

For nearly four decades, Geneen Roth has been a trusted voice guiding women to give up dieting and end compulsive eating. Her books have sold millions of copies, and her workshops have months-long waiting lists. But only recently, when she was diagnosed with cancer, did she begin to understand how deeply entwined her feelings about her body are with her relationship to her mother. And, she realized, this is true for almost every woman: the voice inside our heads, the voice we use to talk to ourselves, which criticizes the size of our thighs or the softness of our stomachs—these are all-too-often the voices of our mothers.

Roth was determined to untangle her sense of self from her mother’s judgment. Working with a blind eighty-six-year-old wisewoman, Roth learned to distinguish between her mother’s influence and her own truer inner knowing. Roth began to see that it was not what her mother said or did that made her unhappy, but what Roth believed about herself because of what her mother said or did. For the first time, Roth began to understand how peace does not depend on external circumstances—you do not need to wait for someone else to change—it relies only on what you yourself choose to believe.

Written in her signature style—funny, self-deprecating, soulful—Love, Finally is Roth’s story of discovering the deeper awareness that set her free. This transformative, healing book is an essential roadmap for anyone who wants to repair their relationships with food, their families, and themselves.