Equivalent_Method509 t1_j69yoo5 wrote on January 28, 2023 at 8:38 PM

I love this book and I read it twice. I was inspired by the way Walls and her siblings were able to make it on their own as adults. Clearly her parents were completely insane and continued to get worse as the years passed. For some reason I was able to understand her love for her dad, but her mother was just irredeemable to me.

Avaunt OP t1_j6a3do2 wrote on January 28, 2023 at 9:10 PM

Yeah, I’ve replied this a couple times, but the relationship with the mom in interesting and I don’t understand her at all. The dad’s stories have some balance between him trying to be a good dad and completely screwing things up. The good moments seem genuinely caring or at worst like he’s trying to make up for the bad bits. The moms interactions seem emotionally stunted without a scrap of nurturing in them. When the dad was going through alcohol withdrawal, I dont think there was any comfort from the mom at all. All of the “good” moments with the mom also seem a bit self serving. Even celebrating Christmas on Christmas was more for her than for the kids.

I wonder if the way she is portrayed is most indicative of the author’s relationship with her mom or her moms true self. Probably both.