Mom & Me & Mom

Super Short Summary

Mom & Me & Mom is a memoir by Maya Angelou that explores her evolving relationship with her mother, Vivian Baxter, from initial abandonment to eventual reconciliation. The memoir details Angelou's experiences growing up with her paternal grandmother in Arkansas, her traumatic childhood, her and her brother Bailey's reunion with Vivian in San Francisco, and their complex emotional journey towards mutual understanding and support, culminating in Angelou finding her own identity and strength with her mother's guidance. The book references the sexual assault of a child, child abandonment, and death and depicts physical abuse of a child, domestic abuse, racism, anti-gay bias, suicidal ideation, drug addiction, and lung cancer.