From the journalist and author of Want Me (an NPR Best Book of the Year) comes a “tender, revelatory, and deeply moving” (Amanda Montei, Touched Out ) story of family secrets, sisterhood, and the importance of untangling all that we inherit from our mothers. Tracy Clark-Flory had a sister out there, somewhere. She knew that her mom, Deb, was sent to a home for unwed mothers as a pregnant teenager in the Sixties. After placing her baby for adoption, Deb was committed to a mental institution in her grief. Decades later, she had Tracy, who grew up as an only child longing for her sister. Now, in her thirties and a mother herself, Tracy takes a DNA test in hopes of finding her sister—and she does. Newly connected with her half-sister Kathy, both daughters start asking questions about the past that their mom, who had died years earlier, could no longer answer. Tracy sets out to make sense of what happened back in 1965. She learns that their mom was pulled into a racist and sexist system designed to turn “bad girls” into proper women and wives. Tracy realizes that her own life has been profoundly shaped by her mom’s past, but she also uncovers a bigger story about patriarchal control, mother-daughter dynamics, and the way that shame keeps us divided—both within ourselves and from each other. Blending powerful memoir with cultural criticism, My Mother’ s Daughter is a moving, intimate tale of traumatic inheritance and intergenerational healing. “ My Mother's Daughter is a beautiful, complex narrative of how women have been held back and how we can change our futures. Reading this felt like sitting down with a dear friend, sorting through the sexual baggage we've been handed, and letting it go. This book is a myth-buster, a cycle-breaker, and it's also a page turner. I was so fully immersed, I could not put it down.“ — Lyz Lenz, New York Times bestselling author of God Land and Belabored "A searching, intimate, and powerful memoir about the bonds that shape us and the histories that hum beneath everyday life. My Mother’s Daughter moves with tenderness and moral clarity, asking how love, loss, and long-held secrets travel across generations. Tracy Clark-Flory has written a beautiful, haunting, and resonant book." —Chelsea Bieker, bestselling author of Madwoman and Godshot "A tender, revelatory, and deeply moving look at how family is shaped in the shadows of patriarchal power. Tracy probes her own history with curiosity and openness, expanding the possibilities of both grief and inheritance, even when they are touched by reproductive control. By unearthing her mother's story, Tracy steps into the light and creates something altogether new. Defiant, transformative, and incredibly timely, this book will forever change how you understand motherhood, love, and the power of sisterhood.” —Amanda Montei, author of Touched Out “Vivid, brave, and full of grace, MY MOTHER'S DAUGHTER is a deft, inspired examination of the love and mysteries between moms and their children. Tracy writes with characteristic self-awareness and a steady hand, guiding readers across continents and decades as she discovers, wrestles with, and finds both grief and joy in a family history that is shockingly common yet rarely told. Her story is haunting and satisfying. It is delicate and sacred—and as solid as a rock. It is also full of humor and sweetness. I will tell every mother and daughter I know to read this luminous, resonant bell of a book.” —Savala Nolan, author of Good Woman and Don't Let it Get You Down "A multidimensional and intimate analysis of gendered shame, My Mother's Daughter deeply interrogates female sexual deviance across generational secrets and myths." —Koa Beck, author of White Feminism Tracy Clark-Flory is a journalist, essayist, and author of the memoir Want Me: A Sex Writer’s Journey into the Heart of Desire , an NPR Best Book of the Year. She has written for Cosmopolitan , The Cut , ELLE , Esquire , Marie Claire , Glamour , The Guardian , The Washington Post , WIRED , Women’s Health , and many others. Previously, she was a senior staff writer at Jezebel and a staff writer at Salon . She writes a weekly newsletter and cohosts Dire Straights , a feminist podcast critiquing hetero love, sex, politics, and culture. You can find more at TracyClarkFlory.com.