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A review by lizanneinkan
Memorial Drive: A Daughter's Memoir by Natasha Trethewey
5.0
Memorial Drive is a small, hard diamond of a memoir about a poet who is finally letting herself reflect on her mother’s 1985 murder. Former US poet laureate Natasha Trethewey has her memories, police reports, phone records, and her mother’s journal to piece together what happened and how she can keep that knowledge as part of her psyche, not a frayed or lost part of her.
There is no “why” to ask when it comes to motivation for the murder. Trethewey’s abusive stepfather threatened his wife, Gwen Gwinnette, resulting in a brief imprisonment that only sharpened his sense of entitlement. As Gwen, who had a Masters in social work, became more articulate in her desire to move on, Joel plied her w specific, material threats and emotional blackmail.
Joel’s part of the story is chilling but this memoir is only the story of Joel in that Trethewey documents his controlling behavior toward her and her mother. It’s not a true crime type of narrative, even with the written and recorded evidence Trethewey includes.
As she nears 50–10 years older than her mother would ever be—Trethewey wants to put together the pieces she remembers (and much is lost to time) with new information she receives. She begins with the murder and moves back to a content time as she grew up in her mother’s Mississippi hometown. Family members lived near one another and Trethewey—whose mother was Black and her father white—shared many of the same experiences her mother had with an additional layer of color consciousness. Although Eric Trethewey is often gone—military, graduate work—he seems loving and involved, if overly optimistic about life for a mixed race daughter in the 1960s.
This isn’t an autobiography and a lot is left off the page. Trethewey’s parents seem to drift apart from the strain of their diff perspectives. Gwen moves to Atlanta w her daughter for work. Natasha attends a mainly Black elementary where Black historical figures and writers are valued. At some point, Gwen meets and marries Joel, events that are hazy. After a summer in Mississippi, Trethewey is surprised when her mother announces that she has a baby brother, a child Trethewey assumes is Joel’s from a previous relationship.
The biographical details are often less vivid or clear than the images, metaphors, and refs to mythology that connect Trethewey to her mother. Her mission is to weave together these strands, not lock down a defense.
Given the subject matter, this is a difficult read. It’s also surprising, profound, and beautiful. The motifs that Trethewey keeps trying to put into place do coalesce by the end.
Should def reread this one.
There is no “why” to ask when it comes to motivation for the murder. Trethewey’s abusive stepfather threatened his wife, Gwen Gwinnette, resulting in a brief imprisonment that only sharpened his sense of entitlement. As Gwen, who had a Masters in social work, became more articulate in her desire to move on, Joel plied her w specific, material threats and emotional blackmail.
Joel’s part of the story is chilling but this memoir is only the story of Joel in that Trethewey documents his controlling behavior toward her and her mother. It’s not a true crime type of narrative, even with the written and recorded evidence Trethewey includes.
As she nears 50–10 years older than her mother would ever be—Trethewey wants to put together the pieces she remembers (and much is lost to time) with new information she receives. She begins with the murder and moves back to a content time as she grew up in her mother’s Mississippi hometown. Family members lived near one another and Trethewey—whose mother was Black and her father white—shared many of the same experiences her mother had with an additional layer of color consciousness. Although Eric Trethewey is often gone—military, graduate work—he seems loving and involved, if overly optimistic about life for a mixed race daughter in the 1960s.
This isn’t an autobiography and a lot is left off the page. Trethewey’s parents seem to drift apart from the strain of their diff perspectives. Gwen moves to Atlanta w her daughter for work. Natasha attends a mainly Black elementary where Black historical figures and writers are valued. At some point, Gwen meets and marries Joel, events that are hazy. After a summer in Mississippi, Trethewey is surprised when her mother announces that she has a baby brother, a child Trethewey assumes is Joel’s from a previous relationship.
The biographical details are often less vivid or clear than the images, metaphors, and refs to mythology that connect Trethewey to her mother. Her mission is to weave together these strands, not lock down a defense.
Given the subject matter, this is a difficult read. It’s also surprising, profound, and beautiful. The motifs that Trethewey keeps trying to put into place do coalesce by the end.
Should def reread this one.