When I Married My Mother: A Daughter's Search for What Really Matters - and How She Found It Caring for Mama Jo

A city-loving, single New York DJ braces for disaster when she reluctantly moves to the Bible Belt to care for her estranged, doll-obsessed, hoarder mother. What unfolds in this best-selling memoir is a hilarious, heartbreaking love story that sees eldercare and making peace with the past in a most unexpected way.

"This book is important to every mother and daughter, and to every woman who wants to be one." (Maya Angelou)

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"This book is important to every mother and daughter, and to every woman who wants to be one." MAYA ANGELOU, Pulitzer Prize nominated poet, memoirist, civil rights activist

"A hilarious, irreverent, and always touching account of how Maeder went from dreading caring for 'Mama Jo' to cherishing every minute with her. This generous gift of a book explores the mystery of how doing the right thing can, in the end, become infinitely more." TOMMY HAYS, The Pleasure Was Mine

"Hilarious, heartbreaking, and real. It captures the twists and turns of parenting one's parents and shows the new relationships that can develop as a result." NANCY GILES, Commentator CBS News Sunday Morning

"A wise, funny, and honest memoir. It doesn't simplify the complicated relationship between a daughter and her mother. It celebrates it. I couldn't put it down." NELL SCOVELL, co-author Lean In, creator Sabrina the Teenage Witch

"Jo Maeder's tender-hearted, funny memoir is a gift. She expertly writes about the downs and ups of life with an aging parent -- and Mama Jo is like no one you've met. This inspiring, warm, and wonderfully told love story is for absolutely everyone." JULIE KLAM, New York Times bestselling author The Almost Legendary Morris Sisters, Please Excuse My Daughter

"Joining the league of classic mother-daughter memoirs, Jo Maeder's book depicts this ancient tug of war with wit, candor, and charm. When her aging mother finally can no longer hold up her end of the rope, two stubborn spirits come together in an almost shocking burst of love." SARAH KERNOCHAN, two-time Oscar winning documentarian, film director, screenwriter and producer.

"Hilarious, poignant, and utterly relevant to all of us facing adulthood with aging parents. Jo Maeder perfectly nails the unique combination of love and frustration that so many of us have felt. And her mother!! Mama Jo is a character I won't soon forget. I adored this book." HOPE EDELMAN, New York Times #1 bestselling author Motherless Daughters FROM THE AUTHOR
"My intention in writing this book was to give helpful information through an emotional, true story. My editor called it 'a misfit memoir and a great family saga.' I heartily agree." FROM THE BACK COVER
"Jo Maeder's tender-hearted, funny memoir is a gift. Maeder expertly writes about the ups and downs of life with an aging parent -- and Mama Jo is like no one you've met -- a little Ruth Gordon, a little Collyer Brothers. This inspiring, warm, and wonderfully told love story is for absolutely everyone."JULIE KLAM, author of Please Excuse My Daughter, You Had Me at Woof, Friendkeeping."Imagine yourself as a freewheeling DJ, and then imagine moving in with your obsessive agoraphobe mother. Joining the league of classic mother-daughter memoirs, Jo Maeder's book depicts this ancient tug of war with wit, candor, and charm. Damn you, Jo Maeder, for making me unable to put this down, and for making me cry."SARAH KERNOCHAN, Oscar-winning filmmaker, screenwriter, and author of Jane Was Here"Hilarious, heartbreaking, and real. When I Married My Mother captures the twists and turns of parenting one's parents and shows the new relationships that can develop as a result. This is a sweet and sensitive book."NANCY GILES, actress, writer, and contributor to CBS News Sunday Morning ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jo Maeder was a radio DJ and voice artist in South Florida and New York City before becoming a writer. She now lives in North Carolina, is a bird nut, and married to a mathematician who loves to dance. She can't play Sudoku to save her life. Read more