A coming-of-age novel contrasting a daughter's disappointment in her
mother's abandonment with the generational differences around feminist
values.Summer 1971. While women demand equality, protests erupt over the
Vietnam War, and peace activists march, adolescent Maybe Collins' life
in quiet Oak Bay is upended by the appearance of her mother, who
disappeared nine years earlier.And with her return comes another
surprise: she's written a best-selling memoir called THE OTHER MOTHER,
about motherhood and Women's Liberation, which gives only passing
reference to Maybe's existence. Camille, now an acclaimed author, is
distant and confounding, and Maybe tries to piece together her mother's
life-why she left, the truth behind her famous memoir, and the future of
their fractured relationship.As Maybe searches for her place, so do the
other women in her life: her independent and unchangeable grandmother,
Gigi; her best friend's mother, Robin, who struggles with her roles as
wife and stay-at-home mother; and Mary Quinn, a successful artist new to
Lear Street, who seems to live only by her own rules. Their stories and
struggles define how Maybe sees her choices as a woman and how she'll
navigate a world that is dramatically shifting every day.But when Maybe
discovers that her mother is writing another book-a book about her
return-the betrayal is fierce and painful, and Maybe resolves to teach
Camille a lesson that will change them all forever.
