Come Back: A Mother and Daughters Journey Through Hell and Back

A nightmarish saga of a teenage runaway in L.A. ends triumphantly thanks to love and support from her screenwriter mom and stepdad. At 15, Mia gets involved in a dangerous drug and Wicca scene, stunning her successful, controlling mother, Claire, and stepfather, Paul. But the signs were in place earlier, after Mia's history of being sexually abused by her biological father, a violent, vindictive drug user whom Claire left with difficulty. Sent to Indiana to live with Claire's sister, Mia starts using cocaine heavily and even gets arrested. When the destructive behavior (including self-mutilation) accelerates, Claire and Paul send Mia to the unlikely Morava Academy, in the Czech Republic, a kind of Spartan military institution where 50 teens are rigorously monitored and reprogrammed. Meanwhile, back in L.A., the parents undergo an intensive group therapy called Discovery to learn to shed guilt for their daughter's behavior, and also forgive her. Oddly, Morava is soon shut down after allegations of staff abuse, but Mia goes through a brilliant turnaround at Spring Creek Lodge in Montana. Mia's desperate diary entries appear between Claire's lively, angry, sarcastic narrative, allowing mother and daughter to maintain a heart-wrenching, honest dialogue.

In powerful parallel stories, mother and daughter give mesmerizing first-person accounts of the nightmare that shattered their family and the amazing journey they took to find their way back to each other. Claire Fontaine's relentless cross-country search for her missing child and ultimate decision to force her into treatment in Eastern Europe is a gripping tale of dead ends, painful revelations, and, at times, miracles. Mia Fontaine describes her refuge in the seedy underworld of felons and addicts as well as the jarring shock of the extreme, if loving, school that enabled her to overcome depression and self-loathing. Both women detail their remarkable process of self-examination and healing with humor and unsparing honesty. 

Come Back is an unforgettable true story of love and transformation that will resonate with mothers and daughters everywhere.

Mia Fontaine is the co-author of Come Back: A Mother and Daughter’s Journey through Hell and Back, a bestselling memoir chronicling her drug-fueled descent into society’s underbelly and her mother’s desperate attempts to bring her back. Her remarkable, if controversial, healing process helped her overcome sexual and drug abuse, ultimately going from being a high school dropout and runaway, to a graduate of Georgetown University. She has worked at the Smithsonian Institute, the National Geographic Society and written for The New York Times. 

Claire Fontaine, co-author of Come Back, is a writer who has worked with numerous award-winning producers and directors. After her experience with Mia, she spent several years helping families in crisis before going on to become a certified life coach. She and Mia are currently at work on a second book about the changing relationship between mother and adult daughter, set against the backdrop of a trip around the world.

Claire and Mia are a compelling and dynamic team whose joy, passion and gratitude are infectious, leaving audiences inspired and awakened to the possibilities in their own lives. They speak together and individually.

Claire and Mia have been featured on Good Morning America, Montel Williams and The O’Reilly Factor. They received the 2007 Dr. Richard Carmona Doorway of Hope Award for work that inspires youth to leave the street. Come Back was a national bestseller and chosen by Target as their Winter 2007 Book Club pick.