Review by ana_reads - The House of My Mother

ana_reads 's review for:

The House of My Mother by Shari Franke

4.0

dark emotional sad medium-paced

I went into this memoir thinking it was going to be much more focused on Sheri's experience growing up as a child in a family vlogging house and while that aspect of her life is spoken about, her story is so much more than that. The extent of harm done to Sheri and her siblings is harrowing. It was a hard read - I found myself constantly stopping to take breather because, even though she mostly keeps the details minimal, what is shared is really upsetting. I am so sad for those children and what they had to experience.

The memoir itself is pretty well written - Sheri has quite a strong authorial voice for someone so young and still so close to all of these events. It would be really easy to present the information in a way that is sensational/salacious, but this book doesn't do that. We're given ample detail to understand that things are not well in the household, but enough is held back that it does feel like Sheri accomplished her stated goal of telling her story without also exposing her siblings stories more than necessary. As she says herself, their experience will be theirs to share when and if they ever choose to do so.

Overall, it's a difficult read, but it was a worthwhile one for me.

Content Warnings