A rich and luminous novel about three generations of women in one family: the love they share, the dreams they refuse to surrender, and the secrets they hold.
Samantha is lost in the joys of new motherhood-the softness of her eight-month-old daughter's skin, the lovely weight of her child in her arms-but in trading her artistic dreams to care for her child, Sam worries she's lost something of herself. And, she is still mourning another loss: her mother, Iris, died just one-year ago.
When a box of Iris's belongings arrives on Sam's doorstep, she discovers links to pieces of her family history but is puzzled by much of the information the box contains. She learns that her grandmother Violet left New York City as an eleven-year-old girl, traveling by herself to the Midwest in search of a better life. But, what was Violet's real reason for leaving? And, how could she have made that trip alone at such a tender age?
In confronting secrets from her family's past, Sam comes to terms with deep secrets from her own. Moving back and forth in time between the stories of Sam, Violet, and Iris, Mothers and Daughters is the spellbinding tale of three remarkable women connected across a century by the complex wonder of motherhood.
This book was later published under the title Mercy Train.
"Wonderful...A perfect book-club pick…What mothers leave daughters is loud and proud in this book…It will prime conversations about your own choices, which may change your whole sense of self, or at least make you feel not so alone."
Minneapolis Star Tribune
"A poignant look at three generations struggling with loss and love."
Good Housekeeping
"Tender...perceptive...Mothers and Daughters should appeal to both of its titular groups, and may even spark the kinds of discussions and openness so uncharacteristic of many earlier parent-child relationships."
