Mona Mudd

Slack Water Mona Mudd

Slack water is defined as "a short period in a body of tidal water when the water has no rise and no fall." Before the direction of the tidal stream reverses, there is always a time of slack water.

Born in a tiny village in England and raised in the suburban communities bordering the Missouri River in St. Louis, the summer of 2008 finds Mona, alone, on the shores of Little Pleasant Bay on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, a despairing woman far from home. From there spins the fabric of forty woven narrative essays spanning the decade from 2008 to 2018.

A contemporary memoir, Slack Water is anchored and narrated by reflections on topics which touch briefly upon faith and teaching, but ultimately revolve around parenthood and family. Through a dynamic inner narrative, the reflections weave together and create a spoken tapestry of the power of change, the necessity of forgiveness, the beauty of aloneness, and the particular courage of relationships.

Slack Water is one woman's discovery of the power of believing, the endurance of family, and the people who call us home.