New Reviewer Amy with her review of Have Mother Will Travel by Claire and Mia Fontaine

Help me welcome another reviewer, Amy.  She has just joined MMBBR and will be reviewing 1-2 books a month.


About Amy:  I am a mother to two wonderful boys who’s sports schedules keep me running and cheering, but also gives me time to read while I wait.  I absolutely love to read.  I am known to read more than 1 book at a time.  I always have a book in the car, in case I forget one to read while out running errands.  I will stay up late at night or get up early in the morning to finish a good book.  I like all types of genres.  I belong to the same book club as Mandy and Emily.  I actually brought Emily to my book group a few years ago and from there the Tiaras were created.

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I started my journey with Mia and Claire in their first book Come Back.  Although you don't have to read the first book to enjoy the second, you will get more of a true and deep understanding on how far the two of them have come both individually and in their relationship. 

Have Mother Will Travel picks up a decade after the conclusion of Come Back.   Mia and Claire embark on a six month adventure around the world.  Through tears and laughs they share more than an adventure, they learn to explore their inner selves and learn about each other in the process.  They gain an appreciation that mother-daughter relationships around the world are the similar to their own. 

I really enjoyed this book.  I feel like it brought them full circle.  Being with them when they dealt with all the obstacles in Come Back and then again while they travel the world is such a gift.  Having the  story told in two voices adds depth and understanding to their story.  I give this a 4 star review.

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Book Description

Publication Date: July 17, 2012

A mother, a daughter, and a life-changing adventure around the world . . .

Their bestselling memoir, Come Back, moved and inspired readers with the story of Mia Fontaine's harrowing drug addiction and her mother, Claire's, desperate and ultimately successful attempts to save her. Now it's a decade later and Claire and Mia each face a defining moment in her life, and a mother-daughter relationship that has frayed around the edges. At fifty-one, Claire's shed her identity as Mia's savior but realizes that, oops, she forgot to plan for life after motherhood; Mia, twenty-five and eager to step outside her role as recovery's poster child, finds adult life isn't all it's cracked up to be. Determined to transform themselves and their relationship once again, the pair sets off on a five-month around-the-world adventure.

What awaits them is an extraordinary, often hilarious journey through twenty cities and twelve countries—one that includes mishaps, mayhem, and unexpected joys, from a passport-eating elephant to a calamitous camel ride around the Pyramids—and finally making peace with their tumultuous past in the lavender fields of France, where they live for the last four months of the trip. Seeing how self-possessed and community-minded twentysomethings are in other countries broadens Mia's perspective, helping her grow, and grow up. Claire uses the trip to examine her broken relationship with her own mother, a Holocaust survivor, and to create a vision for her second act. Watching her mom assess half a century of life, Mia comes to know her as Claire has always known Mia—as all mothers know their daughters—better than anyone else, and often better than themselves.

Wiser for what they've learned from women in other cultures, and from each other, they return with a deepened sense of who they are and where they want to go—and with each embracing the mature friendship they've discovered and the profound love they share.

Alternating between Claire and Mia's compelling and distinct voices, Have Mother, Will Travel is a testament to the power and beauty of the mother-daughter relationship, one that illuminates possibilities for our own lives.

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