Mother

Perhaps our most powerful and significant emblem, Motherhood forms the very fabric of our lives. Mothers leave enduring memories in our hearts and influence our culture -- art, theater, film, literature, and television. In this exceptional collection, some of today's most prestigious and gifted writers come together to share their personal reflections on motherhood. From a woman's choice to become a mother to the intimate inner workings of a mother's relationship with her children, the full, rich cycle of motherhood is brought exquisitely to life. These stories, poems, and essays -- some never before published -- are both real and imagined, and penned by daughters, sons...and mothers.

From Amy Tan's essay on a first-generation American mother and her acculturated daughter to Nora Ephron's account of living under the aegis of a career mother who drank as hard as she worked; from Maya Angelou's moving poem epitomizing the strength of a welfare mother to Mary Higgins Clark's poignant essay about her wild Irish mother; and from Joyce Carol Oates's haunting tale in which a woman finds herself visited by the ghosts of unborn children to Laurie Colwin's stirring story revealing a woman's thoughts and feelings as she's about to give birth, this collection will have you by turns laughing, crying, and waxing nostalgic. Whether you're far from your mother, just a door away, or long for the days when your relationship was simpler, this remarkable anthology promises to touch your heart, calm your spirit, and remain forever in your memory.

Claudia O'Keefe's short stories have appeared in several anthologies and magazines. She is the author of two novels, Gawkers and Black Snow Days, and began her writing career as a correspondent for The St. Petersburg Times. She is the granddaughter of Walter O'Keefe, a Broadway composer and radio legend of the 1940s. Born and raised in Los Angeles, she now lives on Treasure Island in Florida.