A tender love letter to a son about the grandmother he will never know
Jocelyn Cox prepares for her son’s first birthday party as her mother lies ill in a hospital bed three hours away. Her mind half on the joy of her first child and half on the fear of what is to come with her mother, she reflects on the life she has lived alongside this woman she loves but feels she barely knows.
As the day progresses, Jocelyn’s life is revealed piece by piece. Starting from when she and her brother Brad trained for countless hours every week to compete in skating competitions all the way through to her marriage and motherhood. Through every hurdle or victory, the one constant is that her mother would be there to talk to about it. Now, as Jocelyn sets up the zebra-themed party, she must come to terms with the possibility of losing the person who has been there for her through everything.
Motion Dazzle is a creative, impactful memoir filled with love. The relationship between Jocelyn and her mother is a beautiful testament to any long-standing relationship as it changes and grows through different seasons of life.
As a child, Jocelyn’s mother is loving, self-sacrificing but also firm and demanding. Her ability to throw a party and put on a brave face are things that Jocelyn wants to emulate. As she grows and moves out of her home, they keep talking, but the dynamic is different. They discuss their lives, give each other support and advice, and they move into a deep friendship. As her mother ages, Jocelyn realizes she is now becoming the caretaker.
As a letter to her child, Motion Dazzle is basically perfect. It’s the kind of book that Jocelyn’s son may read at all different ages and feel differently about each time, and it’s a special reading experience to be able to share it. As a memoir, some scenes go on a bit long and get swallowed up by detail. The narrative occasionally moves away from its core of being about Jocelyn’s relationship with her mother as she navigates becoming a mother herself. There’s the sense that Jocelyn is trying to catch everything that her son may one day ask about and trap it on the page so that he’s never left with the unanswerable questions she now lives with. It’s valuable in that way, but at times it can feel like it’s leaving out the general reading public.
Motion Dazzle is a moving testament to the love between parents and children—one that may alter but does not diminish with time. It’s lovely, reflective, and melancholic all at once. For some, it will feel like a lifeline—an acknowledgement that others are in the same situation even when it feels like no option is the right one.
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