A review by pennym_
The Erratics by Vicki Laveau-Harvie

dark reflective medium-paced

3.0

its always difficult to put a rating on someones life story, and this one especially so. the focus of this book is on how a pair of adult children handle their aging parents, one an abuser and the other a bystander to their abuse growing up and then a victim himself, once vicki and her sister had grown up and become estranged from their parents. so many memoirs focus on the specifics of ones childhood trauma, so this was an interesting and different take on the issue, and from an author who cant really dive into the details because of gaps in her memory. so its understandable that we dont get the details. moreover, i appreciate that this book presents the fact of their abusive childhood as fact without detail; we dont have to know every little thing to accept that. we arent entitled to the play by play. 

that being said, however, the writing did feel very distant, almost emotionless, and so i felt disconnected. it also jumps around in time in a way that i found difficult to follow.

the writing was beautiful and i appreciate how much complexity each person was allowed on the page. not a perfect memoir for me but definitely compelling