As memoirs of crappy childhoods go, this book stood out for me! I could not put this down.
Nina's mom is scar-covered from the neck down, and it is yeaAs memoirs of crappy childhoods go, this book stood out for me! I could not put this down.
Nina's mom is scar-covered from the neck down, and it is years before Nina hears the story of why. Even after she does, so many mysteries remain. No one in the family talks about it - many things are off conversation. Nina and her little brother also don't understand why they move all the time. Nina is aware of her mom's deep spiritual connection, but to what diety? She seems to practice many different beliefs, from new age to catholicism, and so Nina too believes, yet doesn't believe, what her mom does. Most of her life is lived in poverty with her mom and brother, yet summers are spent with her very wealthy father and his family. They seem to love her, but don't want to know about her life the rest of the time. DOES ALL THIS SOUND CONFUSING FOR A CHILD? You can bet it is.
Somehow, with this background, (and she had messed up teenage years!) Nina manages to grow up to be an accomplished writer, and I loved her book! Her writing was beautiful. She was great at foreshadowing and creating suspense. I like how she included her interior thoughts about how she grappled with making sense of her world. She also backed up her experience with research references she later found to shed light on various topics which I found interesting. ...more
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