This collection of over thirty non-fiction pieces by women about the death of their mothers spans a startlingly diverse range of emotions and experience, ranging from hatred and relief to deepest love and despair. The common theme for all is their eschewing of conventional wisdom, both about relations between mothers and daughters and about grief. Some pieces are funny, others very raw, but all are deeply felt. Collected here are contributions from well-known writers - including poems from May Sarton and Marilyn Hacker - as well as new writers. With a foreword by psychologist Dorothy Rowe, this book will be of great interest not only to those of us who have already experienced our mother's death, but to anyone who wants to gain insights into one of the most difficult and enlightening emotional journeys most of us will ever make.