Thanksgiving for Canadians has come and gone and for many of my friends in the US it will be coming up very shortly.
For many families, this is a time of getting together, sharing our time, our joys and our losses through the year behind us and looking forward to the year ahead.
But, that is for most "normal" families! What happens when you don't belong to that "kind" of family.
Sins of the Family is a true story about a dysfunctional family with secrets that are over 100 years old and that have managed to tear this family apart.
What if your family was rife with mental illness or an inability to cope with their truth and history? What if your own granddad and your mother did nothing to stop your Gran from behaving the way she does?
Felicity lives in this situation! She takes abuse from her Gran on a daily basis. She is beaten and verbally abused everyday. She doesn't know why Gran is so mean and abusive. As a small child she really didn't know that this wasn't "normal". Standing for an hour or more switching on a light and switching it back off again, until she got it right, was a common torture forced on her by her Gran!
Only once in a blue moon would her Grandad come to her rescue, raising his voice to her. Her mother was never one to raise any objection to the way Gran treated Felicity, because if she complained, she would be the next target!
One woman's power over this family has done so much damage.
Can Felicity ever figure out what a normal life looks like and how to get out from the crazy place she calls home?
This book is an eye opener and Felicity does start to find some answers after digging into her family's history.
Let's just say, it's not a pretty picture at all!
I don't want to give away too much about Felicity's life, but suggest that this is a really interesting book. Never having had any of the experiences that she had, gave me some new insights into other people's lives that I have never even considered before.
This book will leave you shaking your head and wondering how this could happen in our day and age!
Yet I'm sure that it does happen and probably happens more often than we ("normal") people think
It is clear to me that we can never, ever judge other people because we just don't know what makes them tick and what they have been through. All our experiences shape our lives and Felicity is no different in that.
This book has made me glad that I have a "normal" family with problems that we discuss or work out! Thanksgiving is for giving thanks and after this book I will give thanks much more often. Understanding and forgiveness are two of the biggest steps you need to take to move forward!
I hope you take the time to read this book!
Sins of the Family sounds like a very thought-provoking book, indeed, Olivia. Thanks so much for your recommendation.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely thought provoking and an interesting look at history through the 100 years and what life was like in those days. No umbrellas to catch families that hit hard times through no fault of their own.
DeleteThis is clearly a book that has the potential to be very unsettling. I certainly agree that people need to be aware that not all families or family situations are perfect, but there does come a time when we all have to bury our past and live in the present. Good thing this is a fiction book!
ReplyDeleteIt is NOT fiction Miss Mouse. This was her life and the lives of her ancestors. I don't know if I would have come out as well as she did 50 years later.....
DeleteOh, my! That is very sad, Olivia. Somehow I missed that is was not a fiction book. It is easier to think it was made up instead of actual events.
DeleteThis book sounds like a perceptive and thought provoking look into a family with significant issues with abuse and mental health difficulties. I find myself hoping that Felicity finds a way forward to heal and live a good, safe life.
ReplyDeleteVery thought provoking indeed! You have to read it to find out how it all turns out!
DeleteThis sounds like a disturbing book, indeed! My heart goes out to little Felicity, whose life has surely been in contradiction with her name. I hope she ultimately found the understanding and forgiveness to allow her to make peace with her awful past and move forward with love and kindness rather than perpetuating the damage of previous generations.
ReplyDeleteYes it is disturbing, especially if you have never encountered some of the things going on in Felicity's life. It sure makes you think differently about family and family history.
DeleteWhoa, this sounds so interesting! And based on a true story with sins that stretch 100 years! Wow - I never make to read but honestly this one is right up my alley!
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