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The unflinching true account of a teenage girl's descent into society's underbelly -- and her mother's desperate and ultimately successful attempts to bring her back.
How does an honor student at one of Los Angeles's finest prep schools -- a bright, beautiful girl from a loving home -- trade school uniforms and afternoons at the beach for shooting up in the back of a van in rural Indiana? How does her devoted mother emerge from the shock of finding that her daughter has not only disappeared but had been living a secret life for more than a year?
Mother and daughter tell their parallel stories in mesmerizing first-person accounts. Claire Fontaine's story is a parent's worst nightmare, a cautionary tale chronicling her daughter Mia's drug-fueled manipulation of everyone around her as she sought refuge in the seedy underworld of criminals and heroin addicts, the painful childhood secrets that led up to it, and the healing that followed. Her search for Mia was brutal for both mother and daughter, a dizzying series of dead ends, incredible coincidences and, at times, miracles. Ultimately, Mia was forced into harsh-but-loving boot camp schools on two continents while Claire entered a painful but life-changing program of her own. Mia's story includes the jarring culture shock of the extreme and controversial behavior modification school she was in for nearly two years, which helped her overcome depression and self-hatred to emerge a powerful young woman with self-esteem and courage.
An unforgettable story of love and transformation, Come Back is a heart-wrenching and humorous portrayal of the primal bond between mother and daughter that will resonate with women everywhere.
It is its own religion, this love. Uncontainable, savage, and without end, it is what I feel for my child.
She signs everything she gives me, "Your one and only daughter, Mia," or, "Your One True Child, Mia." Curled into my lap, she reads about the baby bird that fell from the nest and can't find her mommy. Mia squishes into my chest, "I'm glad I came out of your egg, Mudder."
From the moment I take her out into the world, we hear it, every day -- those eyes! Mia has huge, pale eyes, with pale blue whites, framed by a mass of amber curls. But the brows leap out above them -- they're thick, wide, shiny dark swoops. Like the brows of ancient Persian women, painted in profile. "My God, where did she get those eyes -- is she adopted?" "Are those brows real?" "She's not yours, is she?" This we hear often; it frightens her. She has no idea we look nothing alike. She thinks we are identical.
My fear that the constant ogling will make her vain seems confirmed when I overhear her, at age four, at the bathroom mirror, murmuring, "Those fabayous eyes! She is so gordzuss." I wince, moving to the door to have a little talk on the importance of inner beauty, then stop,still unseen by her. She's referring to Betty Ann, the doll that was once mine, smiling down at her. She then scowls at the imaginary idiot who'd dare question their relationship, "Of course, she's mine! Mine, all mine!"
I step back in silent mirth, happy that what she takes from those encounters is how much I love her. Before I had Mia, I had never deeply loved, nor felt deeply loved. I was unshared.
Mia is fifteen now, and she and I are in the clouds above Austria. The sun has not risen and she is spread across her seat and mine, asleep. I watch her sleep, as I have done nearly every night of her life. We are on our way to eastern Europe. Not to see castles or rivers or onion-domed villas. Not to see long-lost family. Not even to see each other. I am leaving her there.
Mia will be locked up. She is broken now. Thin, pink scars beribbon her thighs and stomach, her ankles are bruised by a felon's leg shackles, her wrists by handcuffs. She is medically malnourished and made up like a whore. Inside, she is dark and damaged and gone. I don't know when I'll see her again. I don't know if I'll ever see her again, my one true child. My desperate hope is that she can be repaired, even badly patched. Mostly, though, I simply hope they can keep her, that she does not escape, as she has done again and again and again and again. Each time to do worse things with worse people, criminals finally. The only thing left would be death, hers or someone else's.
I look down at her, both of us just skin and bone and thin, little breaths. What's left of me staring at what's left of her.
January 30, six months ago to the day, I am absurdly happy. I'm adapting a book I love into a screenplay for an Oscar-winning producer; my husband, Paul, is my best friend, and tomorrow we're putting in a bid to buy our first home. Most of all, I'm Mia's mom. The wise, funny, sparkling Mia who still wants lullabies and butterfly kisses each night. My mother is flying in tomorrow to visit; Mia hasn't seen her Bubbie in two years.
It's a cold, gray day. Mia woke early with a sore throat and fever. I made her favorite soup before I left because I know I'll be working past her bedtime tonight for the first time in her life. The story outline of the screenplay is due tomorrow.
The book I'm adapting is beautifully written but has no dramatic structure, no story to film. Creating one has been my task. It tells of a woman who has lost a child and found herself in another world, foreign and hostile.
Mia calls my office twice to tell me she loves me. There's something in her voice, subtle. It's not her usual, comfort-me sick voice. This voice is tender, as if I am the one in need of comfort. She calls again at nine in the evening to ask for a lullaby. I've sung them to her across the nation. Hushabye, my little darling and I'll see you in the morning.
I have no idea.
I drive home after midnight, feeling such a sense of good fortune. I'm pleased with what I've written, I'm buying a house tomorrow, I have the weekend free to spend with my family. The rain has cleaned LA's dirty sky and the moon and stars are brilliant.
As I walk to my back door, I see that Mia's bedroom window is open, the one by her bed. It's freezing outside. I come in asking Paul about her. He's still at his drafting table. He's a graphic designer and has a deadline tomorrow, too.
"I checked her twenty minutes ago, she's sound asleep."
"With the window open?"
He looks up from his drawing, puzzled. "Of course not."
We walk back to check on her, wondering if she opened it because of her fever. Her room is dark, ice cold, the curtains billow softly at the open window. Paul goes to shut the window as I go to her bed to check her forehead -- but she's not there.
"Paul, where's Mia?"
Paul checks her bathroom.
"She's not in here -- "
We're suddenly a tornado of fear and sound, hollering Mia!Mia!
Mia!, slapping on lights, whipping through rooms and closets -- ohmyGodohmyGod, she's gone, someone's taken her -- someone's kidnapped my daughter, my baby girl!
The laws of physics and biology change. Air thickens, has substance, like oil. Light is suddenly crystalline, astringent; my pupils screw down. . . .
Continues...
Excerpted from Come Back by Claire Fontaine Copyright ©2006 by Claire Fontaine. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Anonymous
Posted May 16, 2012
This memoir was so insightful of how we act. I learned about this mother and daughter and even learned some things about myself and improving on my own attitudes and actions. Recommend everyone to read
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Posted May 14, 2012
It was interesting to see both sides of what was tearing this family apart. Fascinating treatment center!
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Posted April 24, 2012
Where i the book we talked in? Where is you at wolfs raping book? What is the name of your son? What am i?
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted April 25, 2012
*unsheaths his sword and points it at jacob* i did not rap her. Kels. Where is our special book. What is the name ouf all of our children?
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted April 22, 2012
Doesnt remember much
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted September 12, 2011
Absolutelyamazing
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.This book was so deep. I read it in a few days....and i loved it. I really loved it.
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Posted December 20, 2010
What a great book for parents and kids to read. To hear this classic story being told from both sides while watching them both go through there transformation is just brilliant. Reading this book knightly shed light on what my daughter and I are going through but it also shed light on my own childhood which helped in my transformation.
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Posted April 9, 2010
I could not put this book down! I am a full time nurse with three kids and I couldn't put this book down! This book is completely engaging from the first page and I was incredibly sad when I finished it. I am not a person that will read a book a second time but this book is definitely one I would consider. My only regret is that I loaned it out and can't remember who has it! This book is absolutely what prompted me to begin reading again. I highly recommend this book to everyone. I hope there will be another book from this mother-daughter team.
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Posted July 31, 2008
theres so much to this book that i could relate to and im sure others could 2 i couldn't put it down A MUST READ!!!!!!
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Posted August 29, 2008
Claire and Mia's story is the most real memoir I've ever read. As the mother of a heroin addicted daughter and a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, it truly hit home. Claire's story was dead on as to what it's like to watch your child destroy her life. I've said the words and thought the thoughts in this book over and over. As far as Mia, in some cases, she said the exact same things I've heard from my own daughter so many times. As an abuse survivor, it helped me to understand so much of the pain and confusion that go along with being a survivor. For any parent who has gone through the hell and insanity that is drug addiction, this book gives some amazing insight into the hard work that is required for recovery. I hope and pray with each day that my daughter and I reach the point that Claire and Mia have.
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Posted February 28, 2008
I stayed up all night to read this book, I could not put it down. It's been passed around from all the women at my work for months and months. I recommend it to anyone. It's a sad story but you become a part of it and the characters become alive... when it was over, I tried to find a better book to replace it, but I couldn't stop thinking about it!
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Posted February 27, 2008
Very poignant story of a mother and daughter - the daughter hell bent on destroying her life and the mother who wouldn't stop trying to save her.
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Posted December 9, 2007
The Fontaine's story of how drug addiction affects the whole family is written by both mother and daughter. I found the daughter's story more interesting and wished the book would have included more from her. Overall it's a good, quick read. My 16 year old also enjoyed it.
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Posted December 10, 2007
Wow! A friend loaned me this right after she read it. We both thought it was fantastic and insightful. This book will pull you into the journey that Mia and Claire take - a mom and daughter with so much pain forced onto their beautiful love. It is amazing that they could tell their tale with such brutal honesty, humor, and thread the emotion in as well. Thank you to the Fontaine ladies for sharing with us!
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Posted August 23, 2007
This remarkable novel will have you enraptured. The overall aura of this book is completely amazing you just can not help but to read on. The dramatic ups and downs of Claire and Mia Fontaine¿s lives are heart-stopping. This book goes from the ghettos of California to Eastern Europe. This enticing novel never has a dull moment from tales of rehab to accounts of rape and violence. All the information based on true events will have you shocked as you read forward. Fifteen-year-old Mia Fontaine's descent into a harrowing world of drugs and neo-Nazi culture and her mother¿s desperate efforts to save her will have you on the edge of your seat wanting more.Come Back chronicles the true events of a mother¿s desperation to save her battered daughter from the under belly of society. Truly one-of-a-kind this book illustrates the true nature of humanity.
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Posted August 29, 2007
I finished this book last week and I still can't stop thinking of it. Comeback is funny, sad, emotional...it is an absolute must read for everyone...
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Posted June 13, 2007
Come Back follows a mother's struggle to save her baby girl and a daughter's struggle to escape the grip of her own demons, their paths intertwining as they are forced to face themselves. Claire Fontaine represents a fraction of mothers across America: utterly shocked when she comes to realization that she has lost her bright, beautiful, talented daughter to the streets of Los Angeles, and all they have to offer. Come Back takes you along for a turbulent ride filled with raw emotions and harsh realizations. Yet it still uncovers a mother's deep love for her child, and all that she will go through to save her. Provocative and compelling, these first-person accounts chronicle both Claire's struggles to face her daughter's manipulative, drug-fueled behavior, and Mia's fall into a world of criminals and heroin addicts in a desperate attempt to deal with her dark childhood secrets. Remarkable and truely one-of-a-kind, this book exposes the underbelly of our society.
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Posted December 27, 2011
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Posted February 28, 2011
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Overview
The unflinching true account of a teenage girl's descent into society's underbelly -- and her mother's desperate and ultimately successful attempts to bring her back.
How does an honor student at one of Los Angeles's finest prep schools -- a bright, beautiful girl from a loving home -- trade school uniforms and afternoons at the beach for shooting up in the back of a van in rural Indiana? How does her devoted mother emerge from the shock of finding that her daughter has not only disappeared but had been living a secret life for more than a ...