In the early 2000s, Michele Filgate began writing an essay about the abuse by her stepfather. It took many years to understand what she was truly trying to express: the rupture it caused in her relationship with her mother. When her essay, “What My Mother and I Don't Talk About,” was published by Longreads in October 2017, it became one of the year's most popular exclusives and was shared on social media by authors like Anne Lamott, Rebecca Solnit, and Lidia Yuknavitch, who also had their own codes of silence to break.

The abundance of reactions Filgate received gave her an idea, and the result is an anthology that offers an intimate, therapeutic, and universally resonant look at our relationships with our mothers. As Filgate writes: “Our mothers are our first homes, and that’s why we are always trying to return to them.”

Contributions from Cathi Hanauer, Melissa Febos, Alexander Chee, Dylan Landis, Bernice L. McFadden, Julianna Baggott, Lynn Steger Strong, Kiese Laymon, Carmen Maria Machado, André Aciman, Sari Botton, Nayomi Munaweera, Brandon Taylor, and Leslie Jamison.

Pages: 288, Year of Publication: 0903, Dimensions: 14x14cm