I just finished a very good book that spent 100 weeks on the NY Times bestseller list.
It's a memoir written by a woman who is a contributor for MSNBC.
This book is almost unbelievable. But I believe it because nothing surprises me when it comes to families and dysfunctional families at that.
This poor girl grew up with selfish parents who chose to be homeless.
and when they weren't homeless, they chose to live in horrible conditions. Some might say it was due to the dad's alcoholism. Some might say that the mother had major emotional and mental issues.
Yet...the author does not recreate her childhood in a tone of bitterness.
This book is about resilience. It's about redemption. It is about a vibrant family who happen to be deeply dysfunctional. Dad, when he is sober, is brilliant. He teaches his children about physics, geology, and astronomy. However, when he is drunk he is horribly destructive and dishonest and downright abusive.
Mom is a "free spirit" who hates being domestic and doesn't want the responsibility of raising a family. Yet she has 4 children. And she is a certified teacher so could work. If she wanted to. Which she doesn't.
The children have to learn to take care of themselves...and they do. In creative, heart-rending ways. Eventually, they find their way to NYC where they begin to prosper. And where mom and dad follow them. Into abject poverty and homelessness...eventually becoming squatters. The children are ashamed of them yet there is a degree of family protectiveness. and love.
This book is just astonishing because this girl grew up around the time that I did. It is not set in the Depression era. It is set in the 1960's-1990's. And that is hard for my brain to grasp. They chose not to take government hand-outs.
This book left me feeling very thankful for the work ethic of my own parents and although we were lower middle class growing up, I learned that home was a safe, secure place. Unfortunately, the Walls children didn't have that.
I highly recommend this book for people over the age of 14.
It will get you to thinking........
3 comments:
Sounds like a good book. And I'm glad you have time to read!
My book list is growing taller again. Much curling up to look forward to...
Yes this summer has left me with lots of time to read. Unfortunately, I've also wasted alot of evening time on FB....once the new (school) year begins next Thursday, I won't be on FB hardly at all and I'l be doing more prep for my women's small group so book time will be just in the late evenings most likely.....i too have a tall list of books I'd like to do before Xmas...
I've got this book on my list. Maybe I'll have to pull it forward for the Fall Into Reading Challenge.
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