Ms. Crittenden talked about feminism’s effect on motherhood in a speech titled, “The New June Cleavers: An End to the Mommy Wars?” She described what she feels are the conflicts created by the first generation of feminists, including the option to put work ahead of marriage and children. Ms. Crittenden read excerpts from her new novel, amanda bright@home, published by Warner Books. First serialized by the Wall Street Journal, the book follows the experiences of stay-at-home mother Amanda, who left a job at the National Endowment for the Arts after her second child was born. Amanda struggles to reconcile the drudgery of cleaning up spills and singing “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” with the importance of raising a family. Following her presentation, Ms. Crittenden responded to questions from the audience.