Motherless Daughters (20th Anniversary Edition): The Legacy of Loss

by Hope Edelman

Overview

Ask any woman whose mother has died, and she will tell you that she is irrevocably altered, as deeply changed by her mother's death as she was by her mother's life. Although a mother's mortality is inevitable, no book had discussed the profound, lasting, and far-reaching effects of this loss—until Motherless Daughters, which became an instant classic. Twenty years later, it is still the book that women of all ages look to for comfort and understanding when their mothers die, and the book that they continue to press into each other's hands.

Building on interviews with hundreds of mother-loss survivors, the author's personal story of losing her mother, recent research in grief and psychology, and with a new afterword exploring how the legacy of mother loss shifts with the passage of time, 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 a woman can resolve past conflicts and move toward acceptance and healing
What grief really is: not a linear passage, but an ongoing cyclical journey

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780738217734
Publisher:	Hachette Books
Publication date:	04/08/2014
Edition description:	Third Edition, 20th Anniversary Edition
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	21,671
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Hope Edelman is the author of six nonfiction books, including the bestsellers Motherless Daughters and The Possibility of Everything. Her articles and essays have been published in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Real Simple, Glamour, Self, Parade, and the Huffington Post, as well as in numerous anthologies. As a public speaker, she has traveled all over the world to talk about the long-lasting effects of early mother loss. In 2012, she was inducted into the Medill Hall of Achievement at Northwestern University, her undergraduate alma mater. She holds a master's degree in nonfiction writing from the University of Iowa. Currently an affiliate faculty member in the MFA program at Antioch University-LA, she lives with her husband and their two daughters in Topanga Canyon, California. hopeedelman.com

Editorial Reviews

"Intelligent, brave, consoling, and wise, Motherless Daughters is an essential and illuminating must-read for anyone who has lost a mother or loves someone who did." - Cheryl Strayed, author of the New York Times bestseller Wild

"This book has helped me heal my heart. Finding myself in the stories of other motherless daughters let me know I was not alone. If you have lost your mom—this book is essential." - Rosie O'Donnell"

Motherless Daughters sheds light on an experience—the loss of a mother at any age, but especially at a young age—that is by definition lonely and shadowy. Through thoughtful, in-depth research, and with her companionable voice, Edelman has brought solace to thousands of women over the years, creating a sense of community in the midst of grief." - Meghan O'Rourke, author of The Long Goodbye

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

"Invaluable insight into what it means to lose your mother, particularly as a child but even as an adult."—Anna George, author of The Lone Child, in The Guardian

From the Publisher