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4.34 AVERAGE
4.34 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Damn. This book made me rage and hope and cry, but most of all it made me want to hug my mom. What a beautiful tribute to Trethewey's mother. I'm going to want to read this one again.
dark
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
<i>Memorial Drive</i> tells the story of a young girl who experiences more pain than anyone should endure: the murder of her mother by her stepfather's hand. Trethewey's upbringing in Mississippi to that fateful day on Memorial Drive in Atlanta details the road that shaped her into the poet she is today. We see the trials of living Black in the segregated South through her mother's eyes, as well as being mixed race through Trethewey's. This memoir will destroy you, as you feel various hurts along with Trethewey. And yet, it feels like a necessary trip looking back into one's own memory in order to move forward.
Brilliant, searing, aching.
Brilliant, searing, aching.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Violence, Grief
Moderate: Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Racism, Suicidal thoughts
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
emotional
sad
fast-paced
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
This was absolutely heart-wrenching. The way Tasha talks of her mother, the good, the bad, the ugly, the mistakes, the attempts to fix it, her love, her strength. So beautifully written.
This book was devastating and masterfully written. You can tell that this is the book that Natasha had to write. The one that all her other work was writing on the edge of. She writes in a way that gives a wholeness to her mother their life together. It helps you understand why she stayed and brings a full picture to the ongoing terror she experienced. The last third of the book was really tough to read as more of her mother's writing and the phone transcripts take center stage. As someone who has experienced abuse in childhood and adulthood this book LAID ME OUT. I could relate to so much, especially the challenges with the intentional and unintentional loss of memory due to trauma. I really resonated with Trethewey's realization that you can run from the past, but the body always returns.
For years, I assumed I wasn't a fan of memoirs. They felt self-indulgent, and I assumed I'd have nothing in common with the authors. Of course, that was before I had actually....read any memoirs. The very few I HAD read were usually written by old white men.
Since then, I've come to realize that an honest, vulnerable memoir can help you come to terms with your own experiences, particularly when it comes to trauma. Memoirs allow you to have healing conversations with the authors while you read, swapping stories and feelings and working through your baggage together. It has become one of my favorite genres, and Trethewey's Memorial Drive is a perfect example of why.
Since then, I've come to realize that an honest, vulnerable memoir can help you come to terms with your own experiences, particularly when it comes to trauma. Memoirs allow you to have healing conversations with the authors while you read, swapping stories and feelings and working through your baggage together. It has become one of my favorite genres, and Trethewey's Memorial Drive is a perfect example of why.
"The mind works such that we see and perceive new things always through the lens of what we have already seen".
In Memorial Drive, Natasha Trethewey reckons with her mother's murder at the hands of her stepfather. She revisits her memories and recalls events in order to make sense of the tragedy. She relives pivotal moments and relies on the psychology of her mind during those times to analyze and move towards acceptance of what happened to her mother. She comes to terms with her guilt and silence as a child forced to bear so much trauma and pain. She propels herself back in time to walk through not only her own story but her mother's to gain clarity about her life.
Her writing is exquisite and it is obvious that she was born to be a poet. The prose pulls at your heart strings and you feel her emotions on a visceral level. I was emotionally destroyed by the end of it but it left me with a deeper understanding of trauma and the after effects.
What I also appreciated about the author's story was that is was also a story of identity and search for belonging. The author is biracial and her parents were married illegally during the era of miscegenation laws. She talks extensively throughout the story about growing up during segregation and racism and how she was taught to act when navigating through both worlds that make up her identity. Her mother's love was the constant through her journey to make her mark in the world. When her mother is killed, the author begins to question if she could have prevented it in some way. She recalls her many anxieties and premonitions as a child and recounts how intuitive children can be when in contact with trauma and a sense of danger. She also illuminates how difficult it is to trust your own instincts and speak out when you are young.
Natasha's story will stay with me for a long time to come because her emotions were so raw yet insightful. It will challenge me not to discount trauma and my emotions in my own life. This book dragon rates it
In Memorial Drive, Natasha Trethewey reckons with her mother's murder at the hands of her stepfather. She revisits her memories and recalls events in order to make sense of the tragedy. She relives pivotal moments and relies on the psychology of her mind during those times to analyze and move towards acceptance of what happened to her mother. She comes to terms with her guilt and silence as a child forced to bear so much trauma and pain. She propels herself back in time to walk through not only her own story but her mother's to gain clarity about her life.
Her writing is exquisite and it is obvious that she was born to be a poet. The prose pulls at your heart strings and you feel her emotions on a visceral level. I was emotionally destroyed by the end of it but it left me with a deeper understanding of trauma and the after effects.
What I also appreciated about the author's story was that is was also a story of identity and search for belonging. The author is biracial and her parents were married illegally during the era of miscegenation laws. She talks extensively throughout the story about growing up during segregation and racism and how she was taught to act when navigating through both worlds that make up her identity. Her mother's love was the constant through her journey to make her mark in the world. When her mother is killed, the author begins to question if she could have prevented it in some way. She recalls her many anxieties and premonitions as a child and recounts how intuitive children can be when in contact with trauma and a sense of danger. She also illuminates how difficult it is to trust your own instincts and speak out when you are young.
Natasha's story will stay with me for a long time to come because her emotions were so raw yet insightful. It will challenge me not to discount trauma and my emotions in my own life. This book dragon rates it