So, the book group, where my raspberry tarts got rave reviews, discussed a memoir by Meredith Hall. Here's my informal review.
Without A Map, a memoir by Meredith Hall, is a wrenching account of her lifelong struggle to make sense of a life shattered after she becomes pregnant at age 16 in 1965. She is shunned by her parents, and never even sees the baby she must give up for adoption. It is beautifully written. As with every memoir I've ever read, excepting Ruth Hazen's and George Hazen's exemplary works, I wonder how much of the story is changed for literary effect. I don't doubt the main events of her life, but, for example, did she really wander so purposelessly through Turkey and the Middle East? I imagine her survival skills were keener than she lets on, or her life's story might have been decades shorter and not made it to press. Also, there are big gaps in the story, especially, between that aimless trek and her marriage and births of her second and third child. And, as is common in the memoir genre, her villains aren't given rebuttal time. But the main themes of her story, rejection, a search for meaning in life, and redemption are wonderfully woven into a compelling story.
Without A Map, a memoir by Meredith Hall, is a wrenching account of her lifelong struggle to make sense of a life shattered after she becomes pregnant at age 16 in 1965. She is shunned by her parents, and never even sees the baby she must give up for adoption. It is beautifully written. As with every memoir I've ever read, excepting Ruth Hazen's and George Hazen's exemplary works, I wonder how much of the story is changed for literary effect. I don't doubt the main events of her life, but, for example, did she really wander so purposelessly through Turkey and the Middle East? I imagine her survival skills were keener than she lets on, or her life's story might have been decades shorter and not made it to press. Also, there are big gaps in the story, especially, between that aimless trek and her marriage and births of her second and third child. And, as is common in the memoir genre, her villains aren't given rebuttal time. But the main themes of her story, rejection, a search for meaning in life, and redemption are wonderfully woven into a compelling story.
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Wow,
ReplyDeleteI'd read two books for th
as i was saying before my ccmputer burped,
ReplyDeletei'd read two books for those raspberry tarts!
nice work !
ch