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A review by whatcourtneyreads
The Erratics by Vicki Laveau-Harvie
4.0
After surviving a traumatic childhood, Vicki Laveau-Harvie had been estranged from her parents for nearly 20 years when she returned to Canada due to her mother breaking a hip and needing to arrange care. Upon arriving, Laveau-Harvie and her sister are met with the devastating scene of their father having been isolated and starved by their very mentally unwell mother for years, and subsequently trying to ensure their mother never returns to the house.
One thing I’ve noticed about the Stella Prize is that they rarely get it wrong, and I really enjoyed this one.
The Erratics is an excellent memoir reflecting on a childhood and life living with a mentally unwell parent. I don’t believe Laveau-Harvie ever states this, but I understand that her mother was diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder, characterised by an inflated sense of self-importance, a need for admiration, and a lack of care about the feelings of others.
It is written as an untangling of sorts, as Laveau-Harvie wades through memories, jumping around chronologically as she leads us off on different tangents, building a picture of how it could all come to this. It is a tale of childhood trauma but it is not a particularly harrowing one, as Laveau-Harvie states that she has gaps in her memory whereas her sister remembers everything acutely and painfully.
I borrowed this from the library ages ago and couldn’t really get into it at the time, so I’m really glad I decided to give it another shot.
One thing I’ve noticed about the Stella Prize is that they rarely get it wrong, and I really enjoyed this one.
The Erratics is an excellent memoir reflecting on a childhood and life living with a mentally unwell parent. I don’t believe Laveau-Harvie ever states this, but I understand that her mother was diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder, characterised by an inflated sense of self-importance, a need for admiration, and a lack of care about the feelings of others.
It is written as an untangling of sorts, as Laveau-Harvie wades through memories, jumping around chronologically as she leads us off on different tangents, building a picture of how it could all come to this. It is a tale of childhood trauma but it is not a particularly harrowing one, as Laveau-Harvie states that she has gaps in her memory whereas her sister remembers everything acutely and painfully.
I borrowed this from the library ages ago and couldn’t really get into it at the time, so I’m really glad I decided to give it another shot.