Please Look After Mom

The one word that kept coming to mind as I was reading this book was ephemeral. This book is about all those tiny moments in life that may seem mundane and banal to us if taken individually.  However, when those seemingly mundane moments collectively make a life, they suddenly take on a different meaning. We don't often look at those many brief, temporary moments as a whole. We let them evaporate into thin air and move forward.

Here, we're plopped into the middle of a family tragedy. The mother has gone missing from a busy subway station. The story is more about how four particular family members (the husband, the two daughters and her eldest son) deal with her absence. The husband, the two daughters and her eldest son. There is also a chapter where we finally hear what the mother is thinking as well. I won't give much away except to say that in order to appreciate this book, you have to have an appreciation for the beauty in routine life. The smaller details of the story come together to create the life of this woman. Her life, in turn, is a major presence in her children's lives as well. The realization of this, though, comes after her disappearance. The question then becomes: Will they all find mom in time to let her know how much they love her?  Even the husband has 20/20 hindsight and wants to right some wrongs.  I won't give away anything, although there are no huge twists or turns in the story.  I enjoyed it for a simple story about family and the attention to the details of daily life.

The book won't be for everyone. It's not earth shattering and the pace is steady but meandering. I found the writing to be beautiful and I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would.