Carla Seaquist is a writer, commentator, and playwright. Since 9/11 she has been writing commentary on politics, culture, and ethical-moral issues, first for The Christian Science Monitor, then HuffPost, and now Medium. Her latest book is Vol. II, Can America Save Itself from Decline? Earlier books include Manufacturing Hope: Post-9/11 Notes on Politics, Culture, Torture, and the American Character and Two Plays of Life and Death. Long a resident of Washington, DC, she now lives in the “other” Washington (Gig Harbor) with her husband, Larry, a former Navy captain and former state legislator.

Fans of Jennette McCurdy’s I’m Glad My Mom Died will love this true story of a damaged primal bond between mother and daughter that, after decades of estrangement, was finally repaired. The conflict began when Carla, as a preteen, stepped in to defend her father against what she perceived as her mother’s harsh treatment—a move that destroyed the warm love she and her mother had for each other and began an “ice age” between them.

Forty years later, determined that this mother and daughter not end as tragedy, Carla uses every tool available to her—psychology, diplomacy, humanity, wit, patience—to try to repair their bond. Finally, over her mother’s kitchen table, they melt the ice and find their way back to laughter and closeness.

Too often today, problem relationships are labeled “toxic,” with the idea it is “healing” to offload a relationship no longer serving you. This loving, grounded memoir shows that rebuilding a primal bond is doable—and will prompt readers to ask themselves, Could I do the same? What if I reached out, today?