And Now, Back to Me

What does a mother do when her youngest child leaves home and her (almost) perfectly ordered life is suddenly thrown off its tracks? Will she ever again find that comfortable rhythm, that sense of belonging?

Someday, it will come. We know this. But for so many years, there’s life to be lived. Play dates and finger paints. Soccer games and bloody knees. First driver’s licenses and first loves. And then, just like that, there it is. The day our last child leaves home and we’re left staring into an abyss like nothing in our experience. For so many of us, it’s a time in our lives shaken by dread, fear, sadness, and the question we thought we’d never have to confront: What now? But the news from the empty nest is far from all bad, as Rita Lussier shares in this award-winning memoir. And Now, Back to Me takes readers on an emotional roller coaster that is at turns gut-wrenching and playful—a bit disorienting, yes, but ultimately brimming with optimism.