Essays by women of gifts from their mothers that has touched her to the bone and served as a model, a metaphor, or a touchstone in her own life. Individually, the stories get to the heart of their mother-daughter relationship. Collectively, the pieces have a force that feels as elemental as the tides

Heart's desire / Roxana Robinson -- Missing photograph / Caroline Leavitt -- Mess up your mind / Maud Newton -- My disquieting muse / Jean Hanff Korelitz -- Unicorn princess / Katha Pollitt -- White Christmas / Ann Hood -- My mother's armor / Margo Jefferson -- Three-hour tour / Emma Straub -- Circle line / Mary Gordon -- Gift twice given / Judith Hillman Paterson -- Last happy day of her life / Cheryl Pearl Sucher -- Never too late / Abigail Pogrebin -- Broken vase / Reverend Lillian Daniel -- Wok / Cecilia Muńoz -- How they do it in France / Elissa Shappell -- White gloves and party manners / Karen Karbo -- Her favorite neutral / Charlotte Silver -- Right at my fingertips / Rita Dove -- Midnight typing / Luanne Rice -- Julia's child / Elinor Lipman -- Deal / Martha McPhee -- Plant whisperer / Dahlia Lithwick -- Wait till you see what I found for you / Mameve Medwed -- Truths in a ring / Susan Stamberg -- Quilts / Joyce Carol Oates -- Finding the love child / Sheila Kohler -- Betrayal / Marge Piercy -- Silver in the salt air / Eleanor Clift -- She gave me the world / Mary Morris -- A thousand words a day and one charming note / Lisa See -- Then there must be a story / Elizabeth Benedict