han_well 's review for:

Mother Winter: A Memoir by Sophia Shalmiyev

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Interesting memoir? One minute you’re lulled by story, rhythm, and sentiment, the next she’s wrenched you into a candid snapshot of pain or fury. “I prayed that my father would become a very rich man so he could keep buying violins and I could keep breaking them over the backs of chairs. Violins against women no more.”

Can't help but agree that the moments of callousness in regards to her own children and partners does sometimes distract (even detract) from her searching narrative.