A Woven Woman
SPRING 2026
A Woven Woman
by Ann Martin Ridings
ISBN: 978-1-971983-99-8
When her youngest son left home, Ann Martin Ridings felt the world shift. After raising five boys and the sacred daily rituals of care that go with noise, mess, smell, years of school, ER visits, as well as poignant conversations and growing milestones, she found herself lying on the couch amid crumbs, memories, and a sudden quiet.
"A Woven Woman" is a lyrical, hybrid memoir composed in a distinct style-a stream of diary, poem, essay, and observation held together by emotional and psychological through-lines rather than chronology. Introducing concepts like Saudade, Anamnesis, Phronesis, and Wabi Sabi, she uncovers motherhood, childhood, artistic identity, ancestral traces, and the hidden cartographies of a woman's life.
Tender, perceptive, and beautifully wrought, "A Woven Woman" reminds us that the stories we live-and the stories we revisit-give us the insight and tools to understand our woven selves; and from that understanding, we may weave a new life, choosing the warp and weft of our realized selves.
About the Author
Ann Martin Ridings lives in Princeton, New Jersey, with her husband. Two of her five sons are backyard neighbors, along with six grandchildren. She has an A.A. Degree in Early Childhood Education and a B.A. in Social Work, and has been writing since the age of eight. Becoming a painter was a decision made when her youngest went off to Nursery School, and for a decade, it fueled confidence and self-worth, but also made for a better mother. In her empty nest, Ann bumped into herself and designed a course for women, "Wise Women, Wise Mothers," which was taught for almost a decade. A late bloomer raised in a Bohemian household, Ridings has written several books. This is the first one she thought should be published.
