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...