There was no center to it, no point. It was an empty housewife’s routine of sweeping floor, folding laundry, even watching soap operas. In fact it was much like the life I had lived those last few months tending my mother, and yet it felt so empty by comparison. Forburg’s house, much of my life was predictable. Forburg’s rooms I remembered how empty it had seemed after the hospital wagon came and the attendants efficiently, almost magically, took the body away but I was sick in my soul for that greater meaning of home that we understand most purely when we are children, when it is a metaphor for all possible feelings of security, of safety, of what is predictable, gentle, and good in life.ĭuring those weeks in Mrs. It was not really the home my mother had made that I yearned for as I wandered through Mrs. It’s so much easier, to learn to love what you have instead of yearning always for what you’re missing, or what you imagine you’re missing. Sometimes people need to hear things said out loud before they become real. After Kate’s death, Ellen goes from devoted daughter to prime suspect, accused of the mercy killing. In the short time they have left, the relationship between mother and daughter – tender, awkward and revealing – deepens, and Ellen is forced to confront painful truths about her adored father. Dimensions: 8.04in - 5.28in - 0.70in - 0.Ellen Gulden leaves her life as a successful New York journalist, to return home and care for her mother Kate diagnosed with cancer.'Fiercely compassionate and frank.' - Elle Book Details This is a book of catharsis.' - The Denver Post 'Like a brush with mortality, One True Thing leaves the reader feeling grateful, wide awake, lucky to be alive.' -Michael Chabon 'We leave One True Thing stimulated and challenged, more thoughtful than when we began.' - Los Angeles Times Later, when Ellen is accused of the mercy killing of her mother, she must not only defend her own life but make a difficult choice-either accept responsibility for an act she did not commit or divulge the name of the person she believes committed a painful act of love. Yet as Ellen begins to spend time with Kate, she discovers many surprising truths, not only about herself, but also about the woman she thought she knew so well. A high-powered career woman, Ellen has never felt she had much in common with her mother, a homemaker and the heart of their family.

Ellen's father insists that she quit her job and return home to become a caregiver. painstakingly uncovering all the intensity, suspicion and primitive love that bonds mothers and daughters.'- The Boston GlobeĮllen Gulden is enjoying her career as a successful magazine writer in New York City when she learns that her mother, Kate, is dying of cancer.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - ' writes passionately.

One true thing by anna quindlen