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4.34 AVERAGE
4.34 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
This book. This book. This book.
Trethewey drives her car straight through the highway of your heart.
Trethewey drives her car straight through the highway of your heart.
Poets writing non-poetry is hands-down my new favorite thing. This book is a beautiful and tragic exploration of the poet-author’s life, centered around the death of her mother, who was murdered when the author was 19. Trethewey describes her childhood — growing up with parents who divorced (her mother a Black American social worker, her father a white Canadian poet), and later her stepfather, who abused and ultimately killed her mother. Trethewey’s language is artfully crafted, and the deeply personal story probes dark and urgent societal themes: Why is helping victims of domestic violence so damn difficult in our justice system? How can a young mind not only survive horrific trauma, but thrive in spite of it? How does one build a life around an unimaginable wound?
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
emotional
sad
medium-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
"To survive trauma one must be able to tell a story about it."
I think this book is very much a case of the author trying to survive her trauma. This is just a really fucking sad story and made sadder by the fact that it really could and should have been prevented. As a poet, it's not surprising that Natasha Trethewey's writing is lyrical and this book was a beautiful tribute to her mother. I hop the writing of it helped her heal.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder