We know from the beginning of the book that Sal’s mother left their home in Bybanks, Kentucky, and has not come back. As we keep reading, we learn bits and pieces of the back story. It seems as though Chanhassen “Sugar” Hiddle, Sal’s mother, lost a baby in childbirth and could not have any more. She needed some time away to recuperate from the loss and do some thinking. She made arrangements to travel by bus to visit a cousin out in Idaho. For the majority of the book, readers are not quite sure why she hasn’t come back. Is she chronically ill, either physically or mentally? Is she dead?
Phoebe’s mother also leaves the family for a time. Sal sensed the woman’s unhappiness and discomfort even before she left, before she left notes for Phoebe, Prudence, and their father. In this case, it turns out that Norma Winterbottom has been reunited with a son that she gave up for adoption long ago, before she met her husband. His name is Mike, and he’s a college student. She brings him along when she returns home. Now the Winterbottoms will have to figure out how they feel about this new development. Both stories are about how mothers deal with children that they’ve lost: in different ways, and with different endings.
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