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The time when children leave home is a major transitional period for all mothers-but there are no widely accepted rites of passage to acknowledge this massive change, and very little recognition of the spectrum of emotions it triggers in so many of us. In The Empty Nest, Shelley Bovey fully explores the many dimensions of parental life once children leave their family homes.

Drawing on her own experiences as a mother, as well as those of a broad range of other women, Bovey examines the pain and isolation many women experience-and their guilt about those feelings-when their children leave home. In a society that prizes a parent's ability to let their children go, many are overwhelmed not only by their huge and unexpected sense of loss, but also by shame at their own reactions.

Shelley Bovey believes that "empty nest syndrome" is a phrase used all too casually in our society, arguing that flippant or dogmatic approaches to empty nest syndrome are wholly inappropriate. She notes that this experience is a real and profound loss that ought to be understood as a kind of bereavement. And, that once this grieving is acknowledged as necessary and warranted, a mother's identity can evolve and blossom with newfound freedoms and limitless possibilities; for the first time in many women's lives, they can truly have it all.