Motherless Daughters (20th Anniversary Edition) - 20th Edition by Hope Edelman (Paperback)

About the Book

The 20th Anniversary edition of the New York Times bestseller, with a new afterword by the author.

Book Synopsis

This classic New York Times bestseller has helped millions of women cope with and heal from the grief of losing their mothers.

"A moving and valuable treatment of a neglected subject." --New York Times Book Review

Although a mother's mortality is inevitable, no book has discussed the profound lasting and far reaching effects of this loss until Motherless Daughters, which became an instant classic. More than twenty years later, it is still the go-to book that women of all ages look to for comfort and understanding when their mother dies.

Building on interviews with hundreds of mother loss survivors, Edelman's personal story of losing her mother, and research in grief and psychology, Motherless Daughters reveals the shared experiences and core identity issues of motherless women:

• Why the absence of a nurturing hand shapes a woman's identity throughout her lifespan
• How present day relationships are defined by past losses
• How women can resolve past conflicts and move toward acceptance and healing
• Why grief is not a linear passage, but an ongoing cyclical journey
• How the legacy of maternal loss shifts with the passage of time

Review Quotes

"A go-to manual for weathering grief."--Salon.com

"Edelman's landmark book...is an exploration of what it means to lose your mother, at every stage of development, through testimonies of the women who survived these losses."--Bustle

About the Author

Hope Edelman is the internationally acclaimed author of five nonfiction books, including the bestsellers Motherless Daughters and Motherless Mothers, as well as the memoir The Possibility of Everything. She has lectured extensively on the subjects of early mother loss and nonfiction writing.

Her articles and reviews have appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Huffington Post, Real Simple, and Parents. Her work has received a New York Times notable book of the year designation and a Pushcart Prize for creative nonfiction. She lives in Topanga Canyon, California, with her husband and their two daughters. hopeedelman.com