Portrait of Eva's Mother by Mary Matsumoto

At last, EVA LINQUIST sets out on a journey she has been trying to embark on for fifty years. No matter what happens this time, she must make it home. She is determined to confront her past, to let go of the guilt she accepted long ago for her father’s death, and to say good bye, once and for all, to the mother who controlled her. All this she will accomplish with the help of one yellowed slip of paper--a child's drawing of her father. Eva's bondage began on an April day in 1930. Drawn back to that time by memories as she encounters the familiar surroundings of home, Eva remembers a storm raging outside her bedroom window. Eight years old then, she slips out of the house at night to find the lost drawing she made of her father, his favorite, only to lose her way. Her father comes to her rescue, and as a result, his already serious illness takes a deadly turn. The events of the next few days usher Eva from the innocent and carefree days of childhood into a world surrounded by events that confuse and frighten her--her mother’s black dress, the whispers and stares of neighbors who gather in the parlor, and most of all, the long, black coffin that rests on chairs in the middle of the room. Later, Eva is shocked to discover, lying on her pillow, the drawing she thought was lost, the very catalyst that set off the chain of events leading to her father’s death. Portrait of Eva’s Mother is the story of one woman’s quest to find freedom. When and how she accomplishes this illustrates that it is never too late to realize our dreams.