Joyce Carol Oates - Missing Mom

Dust Jacket Blurb

last time

Last time you see someone and you don't know it will be the last time. And all that you know now, if only you'd known then. But you didn't know, and now it's too late. And you tell yourself How could I have known, I could not have known.

You tell yourself.

This is my story of missing my mother. One day, in a way unique to you, it will be your story, too.

From Joyce Carol Oates comes this candid, intimate, engaging, and personal new novel.

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.

Excerpt

bread This was the season, people said, that Nikki Eaton broke into pieces. To me, it felt like the season I put myself together, stronger than I'd been.

The first thing Smoky did in his old house was to flop down on the kitchen floor in a patch of sunshine and roll over excitedly, showing his splotched-white tummy. His big-jowled face flashed from side to side and his tawny eyes glowed in unspeakable cat-ecstasy.

The second thing, Smoky scrambled to his feet and investigated the corner of the kitchen beside the refrigerator, where his food bowls had always been set out, on neatly folded sheets of newspaper. These were missing, but I would soon replace them.

The third thing Smoky did was to explore the house, cautiously. Peering into each room with his tawny-quizzical eyes, tail and ears pricked up, looking for someone who wasn't there.

Other Editions

book cover

Reviews

Booklist, June 1 &15, 2005, p. 1713
Kirkus Reveiws, July 1, 2005, pp. 705-706
Publishers Weekly, August 8, 2005, pp. 209-210
Library Journal, September 1, 2005, p. 133
Christian Science Monitor, October 4, 2005, p. 13
New York Times Book Review, October 9, 2005, p. 8
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pennsylvania), October 9, 2005, p. J5
The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA.), October 9, 2005, p. E3
Columbus Dispatch (Ohio), October 16, 2005, p. 7G
The Providence Journal (Rhode Island), October 23, 2005, p. D7
Washington Post, October 23, 2005, p. T6
Boston Globe, October 24, 2005, p. B9
New Statesman, October 24, 2005, pp. 52-53
Omaha World-Herald (Nebraska), October 30, 2005, Books, p. 7
Atlanta Journal Constitution, November 13, 2005
The Seattle Times, November 27, 2005, p. J8
Grand Rapid Press (Michigan), December 25, 2005, p. J5
Village Voice, May 24, 2006, p. 38
Solares Hill, August 18, 2006, p. 14

Awards

New York Times Notable Books of the Year

Notes

British Title: "Mother, Missing"

Missing Mom

by Joyce Carol Oates