Missing Mom: A Novel

by Joyce Carol Oates

Hardcover, 2005

Status

Available

Genres

General Fiction

All Topics

Fiction

Collection

Kathie Werner Collection

Publication

Ecco (2005), Edition: First Edition, 448 pages

Description

Fiction. Literature. HTML: 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&#8212from an unexpected source&#8212a nurturing love..

User reviews

LibraryThing member THEPRINCESS

This story about the effects of a mother's murder on two very different sisters is told from the point of view of the "errant" sister. She's the one who wanted to get away, and did. Now she is expected to help with the aftermath. Interesting twists, turns and changes in several relationships

develop as the sisters deal with the aftermath in their own ways. I enjoyed how she approached the effect of the death on each of the girls and thought it was a very good interpretation of a difficult event.

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LibraryThing member kimusabrit

Not as good as I hoped. Better toward the end when she starts to discover some of the secrets about her Mom

LibraryThing member karieh

Hmmm - what to say about a book that I picked up, read, put down, picked up...for 5 months? I can say that I actually liked the characters - which is rare for me when it comes to JCO. I really got involved in the story...once I hit page 358. Only at that point did I feel like the main character,

Nikki, was actually trying to get a sense of who her mother was as a person. Only then did I start to feel some of Nikki's grief as she realized her mother was lost to her forever. My rating of 4 stars applies mostly to those last 76 pages. (Oh - and the scene where Nikki finds her mother's body - that scene would rate 4.5 stars. Absolutely gripping.)

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LibraryThing member knitgal

My mom passed away 3 years ago, though I had
bought it quite some time ago I could only
recently read it. The mother and daughter's
relationship felt real, an accurate portrayal of the mother/daughter dance and the things often left unsaid.

LibraryThing member LynnB

Joyce Carol Oates is one of my favourite authors, so I knew I was in for a compelling family drama. This is a story of a young woman coping with the murder of her mother. The characters aren't perfect; they are very real people. This book didn't evoke the stong emotions in me that some other Oates

novels have, but it was a moving story about family relationships.

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LibraryThing member pdebolt

As with all of JCO's novels, there is much more to this book than I originally assumed after reading the first few chapters. The dual identities of the characters crept up on me and I looked back on my initial premises with surprise as I continued to read. She draws her readers into character and

plot complexities with such mastery. This book is harrowing, heart-rending and, above all, absorbing. `

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LibraryThing member bhowell

Another great book from one of my favourite authors. A daughter's love for her mother is explored as she and her sister come to terms with the shocking murder of their mother and family secrets are laid bare in the process. An intimate protrait of a small community reeling in the wake of a

devastating crime. Wonderful.

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LibraryThing member kkhughes

Great down-to-earth book. A real book about the emotions of losing someone tragically and suddenly. A reminder to live for the moment.

LibraryThing member jlouise77

I didnt really care for this book. I thought a lot of the characters were under developed and I didnt like the main character. Very hard reading for me!

LibraryThing member mbergman

This is the third novel by Oates I've attempted, & despite her solid reputation, the first I've finished. It's the story of a young (30 or so) woman dealing with the sudden death (by murder) of her mother, four years after her father's death. So it's not that her Mom is missing, as in so much

contemporary fiction, but that she's missing her Mom. And that's the story--all 430 pages; it's as simple as that. It's OK, though there are no fully fleshed out, sympathetic male characters.

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LibraryThing member BALE

I love Joyce Carol Oates, but this is not one of my favorites. Her work is usually full of conflicting and surprising details with creative twists and turns that effectively play off one another. This one just sort of plodded along without her usual depth or intensity. I have to wonder if she wrote

this after her mother died and if this was her way of expressing her feelings - a cathartic venture? If so, I hope it served its purpose, to this extent.

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LibraryThing member shelleyraec

This is the first of Joyce Carol Oates books I have actually wanted to read all the way through - I have had to force my way through some of the others and even given up on one or two. Usually her style irritates me for some reason but I found this intriguing for the emotion and as a subject very

rarely explored. Deeply flawed, yet realisticly so, the characters and relationships have an honesty that is appealing and irritating at the same time. I'd recommend you at least try it.

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LibraryThing member blockbuster1994

How do we honor our parents memory? Keep part of them alive? Embody their characteristics so we can move forward in our life after their death? This is fiction, of course, so no real answers here. Having lost both of my parents at a young age, I am also fascinated by how other women cope without

their mothers. This is a sweet read, not but because it is easy or without pain, but because Nickie so clearly cherished and honored her mother's memory. Its a good start to encourage me to remember my own mother.

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LibraryThing member byronemerson

I was emotionally invested in this reading (and listening experience), caught up in the upheaval of loss and recovery, as bewildered as the characters by the effects of grief, only to have all of that apparently minimized by a gift-wrapped, no-loose-ends conclusion.

In this reading, I saw myself

with many of the same undesirable and lamentable characteristics of the created characters. It will be the rare reader that does not see bits of herself in these pages.

It is a worthy read, even without satisfaction in the end.

Audio book reading was fantastic and contributed mightily to my enjoyment.

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LibraryThing member JosephKing6602

Another wonderful book by one of my favorite authors. Great characterizations and development of narrative flow!

LibraryThing member Eye_Gee

I listened to the audio version of this book which I'm sure influenced how I reacted to it. The reader was good but the book never grabbed me. I find Joyce Carol Oates work uneven. I absolutely love some of it but a lot of it leaves me cold. This story, about a single, adult woman who visits her

widowed mother and finds her body, murdered in the family home, isn't a mystery. It's about her reactions to the death, and her interactions with her sister -- her only sibling -- in the aftermath. I didn't identify with the main character, which is why I didn't connect emotionally with the story. I have a paper copy of the book and in looking at it, I think I may have enjoyed it more on the printed page. On the other hand it's fairly long and I may have found it slow. How's that for an ambivalent review? You will have to decide this one for yourself.

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LibraryThing member Bookish59

As her other books do, Missing Mom, pulls the reader right in. Just as Gwen would make you feel part of her family. Gwen invited over neighbors and strangers which made her 2 daughters jealous. Clare, like their intolerant father, outraged by Gwen's invited over. Nikki wasn't angry at her mom; she

simply moved to another town making a life for herself with scarce visits home.

After their father's death Nikki begins to grasp a bit more of Gwen's need to reach out to other people. But when tragedy strikes, Clare, Nikki, their extended family and the town are shocked and devastated.

Oates describes in detail how Clare and Nikki grieve for a woman they often ridiculed for her sweetness, heartfelt desire to help, and generosity of spirit to so many. It takes months and months for Nikki to open her heart and understand what extended family, friends and neighbors have been telling her: how much Gwen meant to them.

Beautiful story.

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