Wednesday, May 3, 2023

I'm Glad My Mom Died

I'm Glad My Mom Died
By Jennette McCurdy
Simon & Schuster, 2022. 304 pages. Biography/Memoir

The iCarly and Sam & Cat star, after her controlling mother dies, gets the help she needs to overcome eating disorders, addiction and unhealthy relationships--and finally decides what she really wants for the first time in her life.

Jennette's memoir is a compelling and raw story.  It is another reminder that the shiny versions of people that we see on television can mask just about anything.  Her story is harrowing, a child growing up in a dysfunctional household with a mentally (and physically) abusive mother, a mostly absent father and other family members with either no interest or power to help.  By the time Jennette was old enough to help herself she was left spiraling with the aftershocks.  I felt fully immersed in Jennette's narration of her story and I came out on the other side feeling enraged and hopeful that more people can slowly but surely overcome the effects of abuse and addiction in their lives.  Not for the faint of heart, but oh so well executed. Warning for some explicit sexual content.    

If you like I'm Glad My Mom Died, you might also like:

By Selma Blair
Alfred A. Knopf, 2022. 303 pages. Biography/Memoir

The celebrated Hollywood actress and model, in this original, intelligent and wise memoir, lays bare her addiction to alcohol, her devotion to her brilliant and complicated mother, the moments she had flirted with death and how she found surprising salvation in her multiple sclerosis diagnosis.

By Tara Westover
Random House, 2018. 334 pages. Biography/Memoir

Traces the author's experiences as a child born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, describing her participation in her family's paranoid stockpiling activities and her resolve to educate herself well enough to earn an acceptance into a prestigious university and the unfamiliar world beyond.

RBL

 


1 comment:

Larissa said...

I too found this book to be compelling. I listened to the audiobook and being able to hear Jennette tell the story in her own voice was both inspiring and heartbreaking. Thanks for sharing! ~LKA