Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

American Daughter: A Memoir by Stephanie Thornton Plymale

4 reviews

shelbitedeschi's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child death, Classism, Pedophilia, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Gaslighting, Torture, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Grief, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Abortion, Addiction, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Cancer, Child abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Infidelity, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Medical content, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, and Violence

beccaandthegingercat's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Rape

Moderate: Cancer, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Alcoholism

araeofbooks's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

Let me start off by saying that content warnings abound in this memoir. Be aware there is child abuse, rape, molestation, death, cancer, drug abuse, and mental illness abound throughout this book. This is all to say that the author and her mother both had very difficult childhoods and that translates into a very difficult read. 

We meet the author, Stephanie Thornton Plymale, in middle age as a successful interior designer and owner of a design school. We learn that she has modeled her life on being the opposite of her mother in every way. Her mother was often unstable throughout Stephanie’s childhood, in and out of mental institutions and prison, with an array of boyfriends and often spouting off nonsensical delusions. This left Stephanie and her siblings in and out foster care situations and with no stability in their early lives. 

The first part of this book really focuses on Stephanie’s early years, her contentious relationship with her mother, the difficulties in her marriage. It was hard to get through. What I found most fascinating was the second part of the book. Her mother is ill and Stephanie sees this as her chance to interview her mother to learn more about her childhood memories and ask about her heritage that have always been unknown. Stephanie learns more about her mother’s younger years and comes to understand her mother in a way she never has, and that allows her to find compassion for her mother. 

I thought the end of this book was a beautiful story about forgiveness and understanding our parents as people with their own difficult lives, though I think everyone should know going in that it is a really hard life story and it might not be good for every reader. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Mental illness, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Infidelity, Suicide, Racism, Car accident, and Miscarriage

happiestwhenreading's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

The description said this memoir is for fans of Educated and The Glass Castle and I’d have to say I wholeheartedly agree! Stephanie had a terrible upbringing – homelessness, foster care, sexually abused – the list is long and heartbreaking. Her mother suffered from mental illness and addiction, leaving Stephanie and her siblings to fend for themselves.

Stephanie is a great writer. Her prose immediately sucked me in and I knew I was in it for the long haul. Her journey with her mother was interesting – at the beginning of the book, they were nearly estranged, but as the book progressed, Stephanie’s mother becomes ill and she knows she wants to understand her mother as much as she can while she is able to get some answers. Through these revelations, Stephanie gains insight into her mother’s life and slowly begins to forgive her and have compassion for her. It really was a beautiful transformation that really reminds the reader that what others see on the outside is only a piece of the puzzle. Without excusing her mother’s behavior, Stephanie was able to heal her pain when she had more insight into her mother’s past.

What I absolutely hated about this book was Plymale’s exploration of her own marital issues with her husband. I appreciate that her husband was her saving grace, but the focus of the book should have stayed on her mother. This is a memoir, not an autobiography, so there was no need for Stephanie to stray into her personal problems in her marriage. To be honest, while I had a lot of compassion for Stephanie’s upbringing, the way she spoke to and about her husband darkened my opinion of her. I’m not saying there wasn’t value in her explorations of her unhappiness, but maybe it should have been in a different book. The two parts really didn’t compliment each other and I was way more invested in the mother/daughter relationship.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Addiction and Cancer

Minor: Car accident