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4.34 AVERAGE
4.34 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
This book was really beautifully written. It felt like a slow start but the book is short enough that it really doesn’t take too long to get pulled in. It felt detailed without being overdone with “padding” to add to the page count like I feel sometimes happens.
We read the headlines - an angry husband, domestic abuse, gun violence. We know it’s awful. We want change, hope for change. But what about those who grow up in the before and the after? How does a mother’s murder by an unhinged stepfather forever change a daughter’s life? In Memorial Drive, Trethewey documents a portrait of her mother, herself, and how her mother’s death was at once about loss of life, love, violence, race relations, and what it means to live at those intersections. And then I went online to listen to Natasha Trethewey read her poem, “Letter to Inmate #271847"
Poetry is powerful and so is this memoir.
Poetry is powerful and so is this memoir.
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
This is a heartbreaking memoir that follows Natasha as she processes her pain, loss, and grief after her former stepfather killed her mother in Atlanta. She’s vulnerable and doesn’t hold back the intimate and dark parts of her life. She also talks about how being bi-racial impacted her childhood.
I listened to this audiobook and was so glad I did. It’s only a little over 5 hours. Tretheway narrates the book and there is something so poetic about her voice. This book is honest, raw, and you can’t help but empathize with Natasha as she tells her story and processes her feelings.
I listened to this audiobook and was so glad I did. It’s only a little over 5 hours. Tretheway narrates the book and there is something so poetic about her voice. This book is honest, raw, and you can’t help but empathize with Natasha as she tells her story and processes her feelings.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
emotional
sad
medium-paced
It’s hard to rate and review such a personal book. The deeply inside view of domestic abuse and trauma was haunting. The end got a little too academic and metaphoric for me. But the author is first and foremost a poet, which has never been my thing. I’m left with some questions but I kind of think we should be left with questions. Aren’t we always left with questions when life goes terrible wrong?
Poetically written memoir of a daughter reckoning with her mother's tragic death.
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Racism, Murder
Simply beautiful and heartbreaking. I just placed two of Natasha Trethewey's book of poetry on hold. She is truly an artist with words.