Gone Tonight

Quiet, hardworking Ruth Sterling lives with her adult daughter, Catherine, in Pennsylvania. Catherine is about to move to a new job in a new city and establish her independence when her mother begins to exhibit signs of early-onset Alzheimer’s. Catherine decides she must find her mother’s family before her memory slips away, but as she searches for clues about her mother’s past, she begins to suspect that her mother has been faking her illness. Ruth’s reasons for secrecy are revealed bit by bit in her journal, a story she intended to share with Catherine once they were both “safe.” As mother and daughter struggle to keep secrets and find the truth, their efforts meet head-on, putting them both at the mercy of the past. Narrator Kate Mara delivers the voices of mother and daughter in alternating chapters. While the distinction between the two characters is sometimes difficult to discern, she provides satisfying, multilayered depictions of both strong-willed and tenacious women.