The Momma Puzzle
A Memoir
by Hilary Plattner
You must sign in to see if this title is available for request. Sign In or Register Now
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app
1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date Jun 02 2026 | Archive Date Not set
Talking about this book? Use #TheMommaPuzzle #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!
Description
In February 1968, Hilary Plattner’s mother died by suicide. It was the height of the Vietnam war and Hilary was six years old.
Years later, in an attempt to understand the mystery of her mother’s death, she studies the items her mother left behind: photographs and a file of papers from the 1950s when Momma worked as a Foreign Service secretary in Saigon. Hilary pores over letters written to her future father, her grandmother, and to her mother’s best friend.
She dreams of burning the pile of documents in a bonfire, and simply being done with it all. But she continues her investigation and eventually discovers an important piece of the puzzle: her mother’s medical records from a psychiatric hospital. Ultimately, she forms an image of who Momma was—and finds a way to release herself from the hold of her family history.
Advance Praise
"Her mother was vibrant, complex, and gone too soon. Now, decades after her mother’s suicide, Hilary Plattner is finally ready to confront the ultimate mystery: why? What follows is a daughter’s relentless, decades-long investigation, leading her through forgotten letters and fading memories to piece together the life of the woman she called "Momma." Part detective story, part lyrical memoir, The Momma Puzzle is an unforgettable journey into grief, legacy, and the enduring love that finally brings peace." —Kathryn Dare, Los Angeles Book Review
Hilary Plattner has written a wonderful memoir, which reads more like a novel and detective story. In it, she works to solve the mystery of her mother’s suicide, as well as Plattner’s own obsession with it. She rummages through memories, interviews relatives, and reviews decades of letters that reveal “momma’s” perceptive and often life-affirming nature. Plattner is a skillful guide. She ultimately solves the mystery, at least to her own satisfaction, as to why her mother would choose to leave life and her young children behind. —Alex Marshall, author of How Cities Work and Beneath the Metropolis
Marketing Plan
Outreach goal: 350 outlets
- Publishing Industry Publications
- Podcasts
- Regional News (TV & Radio)
- Book Reviews Sites and Publications
- Book Blogs
- Social Media Book Influencers
Outreach goal: 350 outlets
- Publishing Industry Publications
- Podcasts
- Regional News (TV & Radio)
- Book Reviews Sites and Publications
- Book Blogs
- Social Media Book Influencers
© 2025 NetGalley LLC
• All Rights Reserved
