Missing Mom

Gwen Eaton was the mother we all know, love, and happen to ignore. She is warm, kind, overly concerned and not at all demanding. She is independent and a certified homemaker, baking her own bread, being active in the church and an overall good samaritan. Nikki Eaton didn't think much of her mother, she loved her for sure but she couldn't wait to get away from the small town she grew up in. So eager was she to start her own life and to make it big out there. Adulthood doesn't make it easy to keep in touch with her mother what with her many responsibilities, love affairs, work duties and the big life that she was leading. 

Then one day after a Mother's Day celebration that was memorable for the wrong reasons, Gwen Eaton was gone. Nikki, the black sheep of the family and Clare, the eldest daughter go through the motions of burying their mother and dealing with their grief in different ways. Clare takes charge and tries to control her surroundings by being a superwoman while Nikki just wants to bawl and sleep. Before long, she goes back to her Mother's house, bakes her bread recipes, dives into her old photos and letters to discover a woman that she did not bother much to get to know. A woman who was called "Feather" when she was young because of her light disposition, a cheerleader and a popular girl and ultimately a great friend. Nikki's grief overpowers her and she stays in her mother's house to feel her, to connect with her and to save her soul.  

Joyce Carol Oates' novel is an ode to all mothers and this is her own unique story which she tells in a warm and uncomplicated way. Grief is a weird thing and we are all unique in our ways of dealing with it. Nikki was able to find herself while she put herself in her mother's shoes, continuing her good work and trying to be the woman that she was and I think in the end, this could be her mother's gift to her as well as Nikki's gift to her mother. This is a book that we all should read before it's too late.