In this debut memoir of resilience and survival, Ferguson details her traumatic childhood spent with her mentally ill mother. Roberta, mother to Leslie and William, lives with schizophrenia, and Leslie’s younger years are spent running from a government that her mother increasingly believes is out to get them. The family is perennially on the move to escape perceived threats—everything from TV antennae, dollar bills, and vehicles they pass on the highway—and often spend days on the road and nights in parks that Roberta deems safe. Ferguson’s language is lyrical and evocative as she effectively narrates a little girl’s feelings of confusion and abandonment, her desire for safety and normalcy, and her determination to succeed.

Painful family dynamics make up the core of this story: William readily obeys his mother, but little Leslie is torn between obedience, which she knows might prove lethal, and rebellion, which she thinks of as a sign of disloyalty and lack of love for her mother. With skill and power, Ferguson portrays several heart-rending choices she was forced to make as a young child, including electing to stay behind at her aunt’s home for safety instead of accompanying her mother, in a desperate attempt to stop her family’s deterioration.

Ferguson tells this story in chronological order, starting with events from age six to the present with sensitivity and an eye for arresting detail. Especially striking here is her success at sketching an affecting and persuasive portrait of her mother, that comes across as elegant, intelligent, warm, and loving even through the fog of her illness. The narrative is simple and honest, avoiding sentimentality, and readers will easily relate to Ferguson’s descriptions of her fractured childhood–and find themselves wondering at the complexities of mother-child bonding. This multilayered and nuanced memoir is a stunning account of family love and sacrifice.

Takeaway: A moving, well-written memoir of childhood trauma and a mother’s schizophrenia.

Great for fans of: Marlayna Glynn’s Overlay, Jeannette Walls’s The Glass Castle .

Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A