An extraordinary story of grace, forgiveness, and moral courage.

The English language lacks a specific word for a parent who has lost a child. There are words for orphan, widow, and widower, but none that captures this tragic kind of loss.

It has been eleven years since Diane Foley's son, American journalist James Foley, was kidnapped in northern Syria, and nearly ten years since the day in August 2014 when she learned that he had been murdered by ISIS in a public beheading that sent shockwaves around the world. A whole decade. Time flies. Yet for Diane, that moment is endless.

In "American Mother," legendary author Colum McCann tells Diane's story as she reflects on the months of his captivity, the efforts to bring him home, and the days following his death when Diane confronted one of the men responsible for her son's kidnapping and torture. A testament to the power of radical empathy and moral courage, "American Mother" takes us on the extraordinary journey of a woman seeking connection in a torn world and fighting for others to keep her son's memory alive.