Motherless Mothers - by Hope Edelman (Paperback)

About the Book

Using a beautifully blended mix of memoir, interviews, and research, the author explores what happens to motherless women as they move into and through the child-raising years.

Book Synopsis

"Edelman illuminates the transformative power of understanding mother loss [and] offers essential wisdom." -- Library Journal

When Hope Edelman, author of the New York Times bestseller Motherless Daughters, became a parent, she found herself revisiting the loss of her mother in ways she had never anticipated. Now the mother of two young girls, Edelman set out to learn how the loss of a mother to death or abandonment can affect the ways women raise their own children.

In Motherless Mothers, Edelman uses her own story as a prism to reveal the unique anxieties and desires that these women experience as they raise their children without the help of a living maternal guide. In an impeccably researched, luminously written book enriched by the voices of the mothers themselves--and filled with practical insight and advice from experienced professionals--she examines their parenting choices, their triumphs, and their fears, and offers motherless mothers the guidance and support they want and need.

From the Back Cover

When Hope Edelman, author of the New York Times bestseller Motherless Daughters, became a parent, she found herself revisiting the loss of her mother in ways she had never anticipated. Now the mother of two young girls, Edelman set out to learn how the loss of a mother to death or abandonment can affect the ways women raise their own children.

In Motherless Mothers, Edelman uses her own story as a prism to reveal the unique anxieties and desires that these women experience as they raise their children without the help of a living maternal guide. In an impeccably researched, luminously written book enriched by the voices of the mothers themselves--and filled with practical insight and advice from experienced professionals--she examines their parenting choices, their triumphs, and their fears, and offers motherless mothers the guidance and support they want and need.

Review Quotes

"A heartfelt and practical work." -- Los Angeles Times

"A wonderful new book...it will help you and make you cry." -- Jacquelyn Mitchard, Tribune Media Services

"Smart...Edelman maps the sorrow and longing felt by mothers who are motherless themselves. " -- The Oregonian

"Edelman's voice, suffused with fierce maternal love, joins the candid recollections from motherless mothers of all ages and backgrounds. She presents emotionally charged concepts in clear, memorable terms...to encourage frank, cathartic discussion." -- Publishers Weekly

"Fascinating...Edelman illuminates the transformative power of understanding mother loss [and] offers essential wisdom." -- Library Journal

"Offers hope...a cathartic book." -- Toledo Blade

"An important book. One that will help so many people." -- New York Newsday