- Hardcover: 448 pages
- Publisher: Fourth Estate; First Edition edition (3 Oct 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0007207956
- ISBN-13: 978-0007207954
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.4 x 4.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,249,767 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
'A wonderfully engaging story…from one of America's most
prolific and interesting writers who never fails to deliver.' Daily Mail
'A brilliant, unmissable novel.' Times
'As fresh, compelling and polished as anything Oates has written.' Glasgow Herald
'One of the female frontrunners for the title of Great American Novelist.' Sunday Times
Praise for Joyce Carol Oates and ‘Mother, Missing’:
‘One of the female frontrunners for the title of Great American Novelist.' Maggie Gee, Sunday Times
'A writer of extraordinary strengths…she has dealt consistently with what is probably the great American theme – the quest for the creation of self…Her great subject, naturally, is love.' Ian Sansom, Guardian
‘Unlike anything else she has ever written…A very strong and readable novel; the rivalry between the two sisters is especially well observed.’ Edmund White, Books of the Year, Time Literary Supplement
'This is a wonderfully engaging story about the difficult relationship between mothers and daughters, sibling dynamics, family secrets and, of course the larger themes of love and loss from one of America's most prolific and interesting writers who never fails to deliver.' Daily Mail
'Her prose is peerless and her ability to make you think as she re-invents genres is unique. Few writers move so effortlessly from the gothic tale to the psychological thriller to the epic family saga to the lyrical novella. Even fewer authors can so compellingly and entertainingly tell a story.' Jackie McGlone, Scotland on Sunday
'Novelists such as John Updike, Philip Roth, Tom Wolfe and Norman Mailer slug it out for the title of the Great American Novelist. But maybe they're wrong. Maybe, just maybe, the Great American Novelist is a woman.' The Herald
Katie Owen, Sunday Telegraph
'Her unflagging skill at chronicling our times through vivid characterisation and dramatic narratives is remarkable.’
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Joyce Carol Oates doesn't seem to be that well known this side of the Atlantic which I find rather baffling. For anyone wishing to find a way into her work (at over 30 novels and dozens of other publications it can be rather daunting), a reader won't go far wrong with "Mother, Missing". The book follows a year in the life of a 30 something woman following the sudden death of her mother. Neither the death, nor particularly the grieving are the focus of the book; rather it examines at our perceptions of the lives of those closest to us and our assumptions about ourselves. It is not sentimental but rather evokes a deeply empathetic reaction. Perhaps not one to read if you've recently lost someone close to you - but a great reflection on identity and purpose and a way into a great writer's work.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I've never read any Joyce Carol Oates before, although I understand that her output is prolific. I did not really know what to expect with this book, but was pleasantly surprised, not by the subject matter which is dark and thoughtful, but by its readability. I really enjoyed this book. At times it was slightly formulaic. I found Nikki, the main character to be rather grating at times and rather sparsely drawn. I thought that Oates was really just using her as a vehicle to explore grief and how it impacts relationships, and what we learn going through the grieving process. I never really got the sense of her as a real person, never more so than when she was embroiled in relationships with the men in her life. The force of the work really comes through in Oates depiction of ordinary suburban life, shaken up by a brutal crime, and how ordinary lives are not necessarily so ordinary after all. It was compulsively readable and had a wonderfully dark edge which took it out of the saccharine pot boiler style book I thought it might turn out to be as I started to read it.
Format:Paperback
Gwen Eaton, 'Mom', is only alive for the first two chapters of `Mother, Missing' however her brave, sparky, homely character suffuses and directs the book throughout. Her life which seems everyday slowly reveals itself to be anything but.
'Mother, missing', is a powerful drama that initially seems hard to sustain - but no worries - it just keeps on going. Joyce Carol Oates, a prolific and accomplished writer completely draws you in. She makes you wonder if the way in which we die might become our only legacy to the world; unless our family can alter that outcome.
Set in New Jersey USA, in a suburban and mostly middle class community. Kindly neighbours, a lively church, myriad activities, standards, long memories. For Nikki and Clare, two very differing grown up sisters, the sudden and unexpected loss of their widowed 56 year-old mother turns their seemingly unremarkable lives inside out.
The two contrasting ways in which the daughters behave is bang on, sisters will surely recognise the special family dynamics. The sorting of the family home is a beautifully written scenario that will pull at anyone who has endured that experience.
The wider family all have their parts to play, frequently surprising and heart warming. Real life with all its quirky side ways and eccentricities is drawn in confident brush strokes.
Taking place over a year and mainly centred on Nikki, the single daughter and her `journey' through bereavement, I found `Mother, Missing' a more than satisfactory read and now will explore other books by the same author.
'Mother, missing', is a powerful drama that initially seems hard to sustain - but no worries - it just keeps on going. Joyce Carol Oates, a prolific and accomplished writer completely draws you in. She makes you wonder if the way in which we die might become our only legacy to the world; unless our family can alter that outcome.
Set in New Jersey USA, in a suburban and mostly middle class community. Kindly neighbours, a lively church, myriad activities, standards, long memories. For Nikki and Clare, two very differing grown up sisters, the sudden and unexpected loss of their widowed 56 year-old mother turns their seemingly unremarkable lives inside out.
The two contrasting ways in which the daughters behave is bang on, sisters will surely recognise the special family dynamics. The sorting of the family home is a beautifully written scenario that will pull at anyone who has endured that experience.
The wider family all have their parts to play, frequently surprising and heart warming. Real life with all its quirky side ways and eccentricities is drawn in confident brush strokes.
Taking place over a year and mainly centred on Nikki, the single daughter and her `journey' through bereavement, I found `Mother, Missing' a more than satisfactory read and now will explore other books by the same author.
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