Book Club in a bag : Pieces of my mother : a memoir [6 books

"A story that lingers in the heart long after the last page is turned." #8211;Hope Edelman, bestselling author of Motherless Daughters and The Possibility of Everything This provocative, poignant memoir of a daughter whose mother left her behind by choice begs the question: Are we destined to make the same mistakes as our parents? One summer, Melissa Cistaro's mother drove off without explanation. Devastated, Melissa and her brothers were left to pick up the pieces, always tormented by the thought: Why did their mother abandon them? Thirty-five years later, with children of her own, Melissa finds herself in Olympia, Washington, as her mother is dying. After decades of hiding her painful memories, she has just days to find out what happened that summer and confront the fear she could do the same to her kids. But Melissa never expects to stumble across a cache of letters her mother wrote to her but never sent, which could hold the answers she seeks. Haunting yet ultimately uplifting, Pieces of My Mother chronicles one woman's quest to discover what drives a mother to walk away from the children she loves. Alternating between Melissa's tumultuous coming-of-age and her mother's final days, this captivating memoir reveals how our parents' choices impact our own and how we can survive those to forge our own paths Front Cover Front Cover Flap Title Page Copyright Author's Note Then: A House Underwater Now: A House in Los Angeles Now: Christmas Day Then: Fire and Sugar Now: Arriving in Olympia Then: One at a Time Now: Brown Speckled Hen Then: Big Yellow House Now: Cherished Then: Merry to Melissa Then: All Kinds of Flowers Now: Mementos Then: Prized Possessions Now: Between Paper and Pen Then: Terry, Our Ninth Live-In Now: Into the Wild, Blue Yonder Now: Transparent Then: All Things Red Now: Faithful Now: Thirst Then: Just Off Center Road Now: Naked Now: Tethered Then: Warmth. Now: Inside OutThen: The Last Litter Now: Ashes, Ashes Now: Some Kind of Trust Then: Rabbit-Rabbit Now: Strike Three Then: Getting to California Then: Running on Empty Now: Real Soon, Sugar Now: Bleeding Then: Pee-chees Now: Four-By-Four Photograph Now: Permanent Ink Then: Gone Now: Ache Then: First Dance Now: A Handful of Butterflies Then: Pennies on the Dashboard Then: The Devil Under Jamie's Bed Now: Mind and Heart Then: African Tomatoes Then: Strip-Searched Now: Monsters Then: Brick Fight Now: Oh, Bean Then: Lola Asks Then: Hands Then: The Good Girl. Now: SolitudeThen: Clear Lake Now: Darkness Then: The Cost of a Blue Chair Now: A Thousand Places at Once Now: A Few Small Repairs Now: Leaving Olympia Epilogue Reading Group Guide A Conversation with the Author Acknowledgments About the Author Back Cover Flap Back Cover. "Why would a mother ever abandon her child? And is an abandoned child destined to grow up and make the same mistake? These were some of Melissa Cistaro's questions after her mother drove off without explanation one summer. Decades later Melissa finds herself at her dying mother's bedside with 6 days to find answers, fearful that she could do the same to her own little girl. Then she discovers a cache of letters her mother wrote but never sent and stumbles on the answers she'd been seeking. Haunting and ultimately uplifting, Pieces of My Mother is about the choices we make and their repercussions on others"--Provided by publisher. "Why would a mother ever abandon her child? And is an abandoned child destined to grow up and make the same mistake? These were some of Melissa Cistaro's questions after her mother drove off without explanation one summer. Decades later Melissa finds herself at her dying mother's bedside with 6 days to find answers, fearful that she could do the same to her own little girl. Then she discovers a cache of letters her mother wrote but never sent and stumbles on the answers she'd been seeking. Haunting yet ultimately uplifting, Pieces of My Mother is about the choices we make and their repercussions on others"--Provided by publisher Why would a mother ever abandon her child? And is an abandoned child destined to grow up and make the same mistake? These were some of Melissa Cistaro's questions after her mother drove off without explanation one summer. Decades later Melissa finds herself at her dying mother's bedside with 6 days to find answers, fearful that she could do the same to her own little girl. Then she discovers a cache of letters her mother wrote but never sent and stumbles on the answers she'd been seeking. Haunting and ultimately uplifting, Pieces of My Mother is about the choices we make and their repercussions on others. --Provided by publisher