by Emily Rosenbaum
People with messed-up childhoods are supposed to be under bridges smoking crack pipes; Emily Rosenbaum is driving a minivan to Gymboree.
When Emily was two, her mother died. Her father remarried, giving his daughters a sadistic stepmother with a penchant for hurting small children.
Now, she’s an “adult survivor,” much to the surprise of the other moms at preschool drop-off. She gets a lot of, “I never would have guessed,” which is a polite way of saying, “You don’t seem screwed up; you seem just like me.” And she is. Like every other mother she meets, she pushes green vegetables, tries to get the kids to wear mittens, and worries about how much her past affects her parenting. The only difference is that her past includes being forced to eat her own vomit.
Behind the Woodpile is about learning to be a mother when Emily, herself, was never mothered, and it’s about speaking out instead of hiding from the stigma of a broken childhood. Mostly, it’s about doing the best she can with what she’s got.
Behind the Woodpile - Kindle Non-Fiction
Reviewed by Duh
on
10:00 PM
Rating:
Reviewed by Duh
on
10:00 PM
Rating:
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