JELL-O Girls
A Family History
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Narrated by:
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Allie Rowbottom
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By:
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Allie Rowbottom
About this listen
A memoir that braids the evolution of one of America's most iconic branding campaigns with the stirring tales of the women who lived behind its façade - told by the inheritor of their stories.
In 1899, Allie Rowbottom's great-great-great-uncle bought the patent to Jell-O from its inventor for $450. The sale would turn out to be one of the most profitable business deals in American history, and the generations that followed enjoyed immense privilege - but they were also haunted by suicides, cancer, alcoholism, and mysterious ailments.
More than 100 years after that deal was struck, Allie's mother Mary was diagnosed with the same incurable cancer, a disease that had also claimed her own mother's life. Determined to combat what she had come to consider the "Jell-O curse" and her looming mortality, Mary began obsessively researching her family's past, determined to understand the origins of her illness and the impact on her life of Jell-O and the traditional American values the company championed. Before she died in 2015, Mary began to send Allie boxes of her research and notes, in the hope that her daughter might write what she could not. JELL-O Girls is the liberation of that story.
A gripping examination of the dark side of an iconic American product and a moving portrait of the women who lived in the shadow of its fractured fortune, JELL-O Girls is a family history, a feminist history, and a story of motherhood, love, and loss. In crystalline prose, Rowbottom considers the roots of trauma not only in her own family, but in the American psyche as well, ultimately weaving a story that is deeply personal, as well as deeply connected to the collective female experience.
©2018 Allie Rowbottom (P)2018 Hachette AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"Intimate and intriguing.... A fascinating feminist history of both a company and a family." (Publishers Weekly)
"Rowbottom delivers a moving memoir of a daughter seeking to understand her mother, family, and the place of women in American society, and the narrative also serves as a thoughtful, up-close-and-personal feminist critique of a cultural icon. A book brimming with intelligence and compassion." (Kirkus)
"Rowbottom paints a fascinating portrait of the family behind one of America's most famous desserts.... This account illuminates both the rise of an American product and dynasty. The renown of Jell-O will attract a variety of readers to this memoir, and the storytelling will keep them turning pages to the very end." (Library Journal)
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The Other Mother
- By: Rachel Harper
- Narrated by: January LaVoy, William DeMeritt
- Length: 14 hrs
- Unabridged
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Jenry Castillo is a musical prodigy, raised by a single mother in Miami, who arrives at Brown University on a scholarship—but also to learn more about his late father, Jasper Patterson, a famous ballet dancer who died tragically when Jenry was two. On his search, he meets his estranged grandfather, Winston Patterson, a legendary professor of African American history and a fixture at the Ivy League school, who explodes his world with one question: Why is Jenry so focused on Jasper, when it was Winston’s daughter, Juliet, who was Jenry’s mother’s lover?
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Very good.
- By Roland Harper on 05-22-22
By: Rachel Harper
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Abandon Me
- Memoirs
- By: Melissa Febos
- Narrated by: Melissa Febos
- Length: 7 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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In her critically acclaimed memoir, Whip Smart, Melissa Febos laid bare the intimate world of the professional dominatrix, turning an honest examination of her life into a lyrical study of power, desire, and fulfillment. In her dazzling Abandon Me, Febos captures the intense bonds of love and the need for connection - with family, lovers, and oneself. First, her birth father, who left her with only an inheritance of addiction and Native American blood, its meaning a mystery.
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This journey is captivating to say the least!
- By Ilanna on 08-11-17
By: Melissa Febos
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Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules (Unabridged Selections)
- By: Edited by David Sedaris
- Narrated by: David Sedaris, Mary-Louise Parker, Cherry Jones
- Length: 2 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules is a collection of short stories, some classic, others impending, selected and introduced by David Sedaris.
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Great stories but only 5 of 17 are included
- By Terri Kirk on 07-13-12
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The Star Side of Bird Hill
- By: Naomi Jackson
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Two sisters, ages 10 and 16, are exiled from Brooklyn to Bird Hill in Barbados, after their mother can no longer care for them. The young Phaedra and her older sister, Dionne, live, for the summer of 1989, with their grandmother, Hyacinth, a midwife and practitioner of the local spiritual practice of obeah. Dionne spends the summer in search of love, testing her grandmother's limits, and wanting to go home. Phaedra explores Bird Hill, where her family has lived for generations.
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My absolute favorite book of all time
- By Eme on 07-16-15
By: Naomi Jackson
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Until I Say Good-Bye
- My Year of Living with Joy
- By: Susan Spencer-Wendel, Bret Witter
- Narrated by: Karen White
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Susan Spencer-Wendel's Until I Say Good-Bye: My Year of Living with Joy is a moving and inspirational memoir by a woman who makes the most of her final days after discovering she has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). After Spencer-Wendel, a celebrated journalist at the Palm Beach Post, learns of her diagnosis of ALS, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, she embarks on several adventures, traveling to several countries and sharing special experiences with loved ones.
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Until I Say Good-Bye is a paradox for me.
- By Bonny on 03-19-13
By: Susan Spencer-Wendel, and others
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Bitter in the Mouth
- By: Monique Truong
- Narrated by: Jennifer Ikeda
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Growing up in the small town of Boiling Springs, North Carolina, in the 70’s and 80’s, Linda believes that she is profoundly different from everyone else, including the members of her own family. “What I know about you, little girl, would break you in two” are the cruel, mysterious last words that Linda’s grandmother ever says to her.
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"Tasting Words" made this hard to hear!
- By Kate Anderson on 11-06-11
By: Monique Truong
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Secret Daughter
- By: Shilpi Somaya Gowda
- Narrated by: Soneela Nankani
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Debut novelist Shilpi Somaya Gowda pens this compelling tale about two families, worlds apart, linked by one Indian child. After giving birth to a girl for a second time, impoverished Kavita must give her up to an orphanage. The baby, named Asha, is adopted by an American doctor and raised in California. But once grown, Asha decides to return to India.
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A Must Read
- By Stephanie on 06-08-11
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Notes on a Banana
- A Memoir of Food, Love, and Manic Depression
- By: David Leite
- Narrated by: David Leite
- Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Reminiscing about the people and events that shaped him, David looks back at the highs and lows of his life, from his rejection of being gay and his attempt to "turn straight" through Aesthetic Realism, a cult in downtown Manhattan, to becoming a writer, cookbook author, and web publisher, to his 23-year relationship with Alan, known to millions of David's readers and listeners as "The One", which began with (what else?) food.
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Finished it in a day!
- By Kathryn on 08-23-17
By: David Leite
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Everything You Ever Wanted
- A Memoir
- By: Jillian Lauren
- Narrated by: Jillian Lauren
- Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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In her younger years, Jillian Lauren was a college dropout, a drug addict, and an international concubine in the Prince of Brunei's harem, an experience she immortalized in her best-selling memoir, Some Girls. In her 30s, Jillian's most radical act is learning the steadying power of love when she and her rock star husband adopt an Ethiopian child with special needs.
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Great for adoptive families
- By berry bomb on 07-06-22
By: Jillian Lauren
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Black & White
- By: Dani Shapiro
- Narrated by: Marguerite Gavin
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Clara Brodeur has spent her entire adult life pulling herself away from her famous mother, the renowned and controversial photographer Ruth Dunne, whose towering reputation rests on the unsettling nude portraits she took of her young daughter from the ages of three to 14. As Clara charts a path connecting her childhood with her adult life, Shapiro's novel weaves together past and present in images as stark and intense as the photographs that tore the Dunnes apart.
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It was okay
- By Lucy7 on 02-13-19
By: Dani Shapiro
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The End of Eve
- A Memoir
- By: Ariel Gore
- Narrated by: Ariel Gore
- Length: 5 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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At age 39, Ariel Gore has everything she’s always wanted: a successful writing career, a long-term partnership, a beautiful if tiny home, a daughter in college and a son in preschool. But life’s happy endings don’t always last. If it’s not one thing, after all, it’s your mother. Her name is Eve. Her epic temper tantrums have already gotten her banned from three cab companies in Portland. And she’s here to announce that she’s dying.
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Get Ready for a Bumpy Ride
- By Susie on 03-06-14
By: Ariel Gore
What listeners say about JELL-O Girls
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Norcott Pemberton
- 08-01-18
A powerful book about the struggle of women in the patriarchy
Mother and daughter both absorbed the weight of the patriarchal ideal, suffered and fought back. Beautifully written and very moving
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1 person found this helpful
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- Christie Chaudry
- 08-09-18
Great book
The author is not the best reader/ performer, but the story stands strong in its own. A beautiful book.
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- Etoile NEOhio
- 11-11-20
Fascinating look at a mother-daughter relationship
Allie Rowbottom is of an age to be my daughter and I of her mother. This book is a beautifully written account of what it means to be a member of Generation Y raised by a Baby Boomer. This is the story of three generations of women who struggle with finding their identity in a culture that undervalues women's intellect and overvalues their appearances and what they can do for the men in their orbits. I see my friends in this story, their relationships with both their mothers and their daughters, and their own struggles with identity in a world where feminism was taking flight.
Along the way we get a glimpse into the world of eating disorders, mass psychogenic illness, conversion disorder, and the culture of the Jell-O legacy and how it is intertwined with all of the above.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Jeff
- 11-12-19
Joyless lives
Jell-O topped with Patriarchy - crippler of young adults. Women doomed to misery from birth.
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- Caroline K.
- 08-06-18
Interesting...
The story is intriguing but can be hard to follow as it jumps around. The narrators voice is really dry and takes some getting use to.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Leigh Deja
- 10-23-18
Love
An intimate tale of womanhood and familial and cultural legacy. Beautifully written and thought-provoking.
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- Mary Rodriguez
- 12-10-20
A Wonderful Book for the Right Audience
The overlap in the Venn diagram of folks who want to wax nostalgic about Jell-o, and folks who want to rail against the patriarchy is probably pretty small, so I can see why "Jell-o Girls" was a hard sell for many. In the vein of "The Bell Jar," or "Girl, Interrupted," " Jell-o Girls," tells the story of three generations of women, who despite their wealth & privilege are nonetheless cursed by patriarchal American society, addiction, inherited trauma, and illness. The book weaves the stories of the heiresses to the Jell-o fortune, with the history of Jell-o, and a strange affliction that befell young women in the Le Roy, NY, the birthplace of the famous dessert. It mostly succeeds in this effort, though I agree with reviewers who said the timelines between stories are sometimes erratic, and the prose and metaphors become repetitive. Overall, I found "Jell-o Girls" a jarring memoir about the spells women weave, and the ways family can be both toxic and touching.
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- Annette C. Williams
- 07-31-18
Not what I expected.
This book got rave revues on Amazon. It was a let down. The history of Jello was too frequent and detracted from the story.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Yoga707
- 09-16-18
very interesting lives and story
This author did a very good job of interweaving the generations of her family, with the story of their fortune, and the occurrences with the mysterious illnesses in New York.
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- La Selva
- 09-02-19
An erratic memoir
I listened to this audio book on a long drive with some breaks & interruptions which leads to my description of finding the story erratic or convoluted. It was a guilt-ridden, gut-wrenching, heart-rending, depressing narrative of remembrance, wealth, love and loss within an undercurrent of history. It certainly kept my attention. I would like to read Judy's story and more about the LaRoy girls.
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2 people found this helpful