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Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'
Blow Your House Down: A Story of Family, Feminism, and Treason by Gina Frangello
1 review
reading_rainbow_with_chris's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
3.25
“Blow Your House Down” by Gina Frangello
CW: Domestic Abuse, Cancer, Dementia
Gina Frangello has a lover, a lover who is not her husband. Gina Frangello’s affair is discovered, in a way that Gina did not intend. Gina Frangello now has to sort through what it means to be a “cheater” and what it means for her family and her life moving forward. This memoir chronicles a difficult time in Frangello’s life, rife with loss and troubling treasonous activity by virtually all adults at the center of her narrative. Woven into her reflections are questions related to feminism and women’s autonomy, implicitly and explicitly asking why women are not treated equally even in adultery. This memoir held interest for me throughout, but ultimately I was disappointed by the tone. Although there are important questions asked, I found Frangello’s writing to be at many points too confessional, operating in a space of “look how bad I am” and “look how hard I’m trying to be good.” This might just be my reading as an implicit agent of the patriarchy, but I just couldn’t quite shake the tone of demanding validation. The memoir was enjoyable enough but it was not quite what I was expecting or what I typically hope for in a memoir. No cardinal sins, but just didn’t work for me.
CW: Domestic Abuse, Cancer, Dementia
Gina Frangello has a lover, a lover who is not her husband. Gina Frangello’s affair is discovered, in a way that Gina did not intend. Gina Frangello now has to sort through what it means to be a “cheater” and what it means for her family and her life moving forward. This memoir chronicles a difficult time in Frangello’s life, rife with loss and troubling treasonous activity by virtually all adults at the center of her narrative. Woven into her reflections are questions related to feminism and women’s autonomy, implicitly and explicitly asking why women are not treated equally even in adultery. This memoir held interest for me throughout, but ultimately I was disappointed by the tone. Although there are important questions asked, I found Frangello’s writing to be at many points too confessional, operating in a space of “look how bad I am” and “look how hard I’m trying to be good.” This might just be my reading as an implicit agent of the patriarchy, but I just couldn’t quite shake the tone of demanding validation. The memoir was enjoyable enough but it was not quite what I was expecting or what I typically hope for in a memoir. No cardinal sins, but just didn’t work for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity
Moderate: Dementia, Emotional abuse, Grief, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Sexual content, Self harm, Cancer, and Cursing
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