Missing Mom - by Joyce Carol Oates Paperback

About the Book

"Missing Mom" is the story of Nikki Eaton, a liberated 31-year-old woman who never thought of herself as a daughter until the sudden loss of her mother. After a tumultuous year of sorrow, illumination, and wisdom, Nikki finds a nurturing love from an unexpected source in Oates's moving novel.

From the Back Cover

Nikki Eaton, single, thirty-one, sexually liberated, and economically self-supporting, has never particularly thought of herself as a daughter. Yet, following the unexpected loss of her mother, she undergoes a remarkable transformation during a tumultuous year that brings stunning horror, sorrow, illumination, wisdom, and even—from an unexpected source—a nurturing love.

Review Quotes

"Mesmerizing. . . . This is an excellent book to read for understanding, but not for forgetting." - Dallas Morning News
"Arresting..." - New York Times Book Review
"Missing Mom is richly human, lavishly detailed, psychologically acute, and manages to convey the sense of an ordinary life, wounded but unfolding, as ours are." - Providence Journal
"Exquisite." - Boston Globe