How to Lose Your Mother
A Daughter's Memoir
Published on 7. May 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
256 pages
978-1-0350-2935-8 (ISBN)
Description
The New York Times Bestseller
An honest, heartbreaking and brutally funny memoir about losing a mother you never really had - and a comfort to anyone who knows that love can be complicated.
'I was just bowled over by this book' - Nigella Lawson
'Often rancorous, sometimes furious, never self-indulgent' - Financial Times
'Brisk and funny and beautifully done' - The Times
'Unsparing . . . but also a loving elegy' - The New York Times
'By turns hilarious and heartbreaking' - Oprah Daily
'Punchy . . . with moments of deep sadness leavened by a sardonic humour' - The Guardian
'A gripping memoir . . . exquisitely relatable' - Lori Gottlieb, author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
'Lines so good you won't just want to underline them, you will want to cut them out to share' - The Washington Post
Molly Jong-Fast is the daughter of acclaimed writer Erica Jong. Raw, moving and seriously funny, How to Lose Your Mother is her account of a sometimes chaotic upbringing and how that can really mess you up. But with her mother's heartbreaking descent into dementia, and Molly's realization that she is going to lose this remarkable woman, it is also a story of love, loss, confusion and deep grief.
Taking us behind the scenes of a fascinating and sometimes tumultuous family dynamic, it leaves us with a better understanding of our own most precious relationships.
An honest, heartbreaking and brutally funny memoir about losing a mother you never really had - and a comfort to anyone who knows that love can be complicated.
'I was just bowled over by this book' - Nigella Lawson
'Often rancorous, sometimes furious, never self-indulgent' - Financial Times
'Brisk and funny and beautifully done' - The Times
'Unsparing . . . but also a loving elegy' - The New York Times
'By turns hilarious and heartbreaking' - Oprah Daily
'Punchy . . . with moments of deep sadness leavened by a sardonic humour' - The Guardian
'A gripping memoir . . . exquisitely relatable' - Lori Gottlieb, author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
'Lines so good you won't just want to underline them, you will want to cut them out to share' - The Washington Post
Molly Jong-Fast is the daughter of acclaimed writer Erica Jong. Raw, moving and seriously funny, How to Lose Your Mother is her account of a sometimes chaotic upbringing and how that can really mess you up. But with her mother's heartbreaking descent into dementia, and Molly's realization that she is going to lose this remarkable woman, it is also a story of love, loss, confusion and deep grief.
Taking us behind the scenes of a fascinating and sometimes tumultuous family dynamic, it leaves us with a better understanding of our own most precious relationships.
Reviews / Votes
A gripping memoir about mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, loss and healing, and what it means to finally accept your past and become an adult. Despite being raised in the shadow of fame, Molly's story is both uniquely specific and utterly, exquisitely relatable. -- Lori Gottlieb, author of <i>Maybe You Should Talk to Someone</i> Brisk and funny and beautifully done * The Times * Punchy . . . with moments of deep sadness leavened by a sardonic humour * The Guardian * Molly Jong-Fast is the embodiment of Erica Jong's legacy, and this book is a brave, if sometimes troubling, testament to her own capacity for survival * The Observer * By turns hilarious and heartbreaking. -- <i>Oprah Daily</i>, The most anticipated books of 2025 Often rancorous, sometimes furious, never self-indulgent . . . there's also love in this book. The imperfect, painful, and maddening kind that so many readers will undoubtedly be able to relate to. * The Financial Times * Mesmerizing, intimate, wise, unputdownable, crazily honest, heartbreaking, funny, illuminating - Beautiful and painful at the same time, just like real life. -- Anne Lamott, author of <i>Bird by Bird</i> Unsparing . . . a score-settling marathon at times, but also a loving elegy. * The New York Times * A riveting reckoning on the challenging ties many have to their parents . . . Both heartbreaking and humorous. * New York Observer * Conveys the mess, terror, loneliness and glory of familial love, in all its riveting complexity. -- Claire Messud, author of <i>This Strange Eventful History </i> In the tradition of the finest memoir writing, the author spares no one, herself least of all, as she untangles the bad from the good while still allowing for some tricky knots. * The Los Angeles Times * Resisting tidy sentiment or easy answers, Jong-Fast dives headfirst into the often-difficult ambiguities of parent-child bonds. The results are stunning. * Publishers Weekly * Manages to leaven the pain with self-deprecating humour and a mighty reservoir of love . . . . . . arming us all with lines so good you won't just want to underline them, you will want to cut them out to share. * The Washington Post * The best book Jong-Fast could have written about the worst year of her life. * Kirkus * This raw, intimate memoir is a stunning portrait of difficult relationships and how we survive them. * People * Honest, emotional and at times funny. -- Katty Kay * bbc.co.uk * Molly Jong-Fast is the embodiment of Erica Jong's legacy, and this book is a brave, if sometimes troubling, testament to her own capacity for survival. * The Observer * Blistering, hilarious and moving * The Conversation * Celebrity memoir meets real literary merit. * Lit Hub * Warm honesty and humour fill the pages . . . a thorough account of an intriguing and difficult childhood. Riddled with pathos and wit. * Snack *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Pan Macmillan
Target group
Interest Age: From 18 years
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 196 mm
Width: 128 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
180 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-0350-2935-8 (9781035029358)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
06/2025
Picador
€15.99
Available for download
Person
Molly Jong-Fast is an author, a special correspondent for Vanity Fair, a political analyst for MSNBC News and host of the Fast Politics podcast. She lives in Manhattan. How to Lose Your Mother is her fifth book.