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4.34 AVERAGE
4.34 AVERAGE
Heartbreaking and well written, but I wish we had gotten more details about the author’s life since the incident and what happened to her brother.
So, I started this book the day after my mother passed. I've been drawn to books about grief, specifically in the context of mothers and daughters. Our situations could not be more dissimilar: I lost my mom to cancer while Trethewey lost her mother to domestic violence. Yet, our shared feelings were so similar: guilt, anger, depression and regret.
I enjoyed her writing, as well. Whenever Trethewey writes about her mother, especially when she describes her mother as she was in old photographs and recordings, she so perfectly captures that veil of bittersweet nostalgia and regret that colors these perceptions. The unseen things you go back and pick up on with your new knowledge of the future. A sadness that may or may not actually be there.
This coloring of history carries on throughout the memoir as she describes her home town, her school experiences and the tragic day when her mother was killed.
Separating myself from her experience, Tretheway describes with chilling detail the danger women face when trying to leave abusive relationships. She does an amazing job showing how dangerous her stepfather was while acknowledging his behavior was the result of severe trauma and mental illness brought on by his participation in the Vietnam War. It's empathic not sympathetic. The police and community resources do take him seriously as a threat; however, all it takes is a minor lapse in oversight in Tretheway's mother's security to end her life.
I may revisit this book in the future when I'm more distant from my own experiences. Perhaps try it in print.
I enjoyed her writing, as well. Whenever Trethewey writes about her mother, especially when she describes her mother as she was in old photographs and recordings, she so perfectly captures that veil of bittersweet nostalgia and regret that colors these perceptions. The unseen things you go back and pick up on with your new knowledge of the future. A sadness that may or may not actually be there.
This coloring of history carries on throughout the memoir as she describes her home town, her school experiences and the tragic day when her mother was killed.
Separating myself from her experience, Tretheway describes with chilling detail the danger women face when trying to leave abusive relationships. She does an amazing job showing how dangerous her stepfather was while acknowledging his behavior was the result of severe trauma and mental illness brought on by his participation in the Vietnam War. It's empathic not sympathetic. The police and community resources do take him seriously as a threat; however, all it takes is a minor lapse in oversight in Tretheway's mother's security to end her life.
I may revisit this book in the future when I'm more distant from my own experiences. Perhaps try it in print.
In just a few hours of listening to this audio book, Tretheway gutted me with her raw, emotional,heartbreaking memoir. While she recounts the tumultuous relationship between her mother and stepfather that ultimately ends in her murder, this story delves way beyond that to explore the beautiful relationship between a mother and daughter and the effects of abuse and PTSD on a family. It was very hard to digest at times because of the content matter but well worth it.
Natasha Tretheway has twice served as the Poet Laureate of the US and won the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry in 2006 so when she writes a memoir, I. AM. HERE. FOR. IT!
This new memoir, Memorial Drive, takes us back to her childhood as a daughter of an African-American mother and white Canadian Father, who were interracially married when it was illegal to do so. Her beautiful prose and reflection is not to be missed - as she begins to recount and review the details leading up to her mother's murder at the hands of her stepfather. This book helped to bring her closure and to fully understand what her mother may have been experiencing as she dealt with an unstable spouse who ultimately took her life. This book is heartbreaking and compelling and part love letter and part true crime novel as the author tries to fully understand what went wrong and if anyone could have possibly helped to intervene. I loved it and while heartbreaking, it is a cautionary tale to anyone who may be in an abusive marriage. Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest opinion.
This new memoir, Memorial Drive, takes us back to her childhood as a daughter of an African-American mother and white Canadian Father, who were interracially married when it was illegal to do so. Her beautiful prose and reflection is not to be missed - as she begins to recount and review the details leading up to her mother's murder at the hands of her stepfather. This book helped to bring her closure and to fully understand what her mother may have been experiencing as she dealt with an unstable spouse who ultimately took her life. This book is heartbreaking and compelling and part love letter and part true crime novel as the author tries to fully understand what went wrong and if anyone could have possibly helped to intervene. I loved it and while heartbreaking, it is a cautionary tale to anyone who may be in an abusive marriage. Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest opinion.
My goodness.
This book shines a light on domestic violence and how absolutely dangerous it is for a woman to LEAVE the situation and how police officers fail to do the job they are assigned. Which is so completely aggravating.
I absolutely want everyone to read this. It's a short read, and it details a LOT of societal issues that still plague this country to this very day, regarding Racism, domestic violence and childhood/early adulthood trauma.
It's very well written, it's thoughtful and descriptive. I haven't had a book completely hold my interest like this in quite some time, and that's most likely because I've had very similar trauma, domestic abuse wise.
- Cj
This book shines a light on domestic violence and how absolutely dangerous it is for a woman to LEAVE the situation and how police officers fail to do the job they are assigned. Which is so completely aggravating.
I absolutely want everyone to read this. It's a short read, and it details a LOT of societal issues that still plague this country to this very day, regarding Racism, domestic violence and childhood/early adulthood trauma.
It's very well written, it's thoughtful and descriptive. I haven't had a book completely hold my interest like this in quite some time, and that's most likely because I've had very similar trauma, domestic abuse wise.
- Cj
This memoir reads like a private journal, a peek into the heart of one who has known trauma and is slowly reckoning with it. In the journey toward the inevitable, the reader's heart breaks along with Trethewey who is remembering after, she admits, running away for so long. Trethewey's mother was murdered by her estranged stepfather in 1985 after years of domestic abuse. Armed with a successful writing career and the passage of time, this memoir is Trethewey's return to the scene of the crime and the memories that led up to the tragedy. There is so much tangled in these pages, waiting to be encountered and wrestled with.
This was such a good book. It flowed well and was poetic at times. Such a compelling and heartbreaking read.
Heart aching memoir
Sad but beautifully written. The author writes about her relationship with her mom and growing up in a family torn apart by mental health issues, abuse of all kinds, fear and violence. The writing is poetic and heavy with emotion so there is a glimpse of beauty in all the pain throughout.
Sad but beautifully written. The author writes about her relationship with her mom and growing up in a family torn apart by mental health issues, abuse of all kinds, fear and violence. The writing is poetic and heavy with emotion so there is a glimpse of beauty in all the pain throughout.
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
A heart breaking story that must have been incredibly difficult to write and read. I did find the transcripts a little hard to follow on the audiobook version, but otherwise it was well written and poignant.