Replacement Child by Judy L. Mandel
I seem to be reading alot of memoir lately written by women who grew up in the 1960's and 70's and are now into middle age. Just like me. I hate calling this time in my life middle age but it's a little less abrasive than saying menopause. In any event, it's a time of great reflection on who we are and how we got here.
Judy Mandel is her parent's replacement child. An older sister, Donna, she never knew was killed when a plane crashed into their home. Another sister, Linda was severely burned and scared in the accident a constant reminder of the family's suffering. While her sister carried the visible scars, her parents carried scars on their hearts for a child lost. And Judy, as the replacement child, always remained on the outside trying to see in.
Replacement Child is a very compelling true story about how grief affects each of us differently. What I didn't like was how the author structured the story skipping back and forth between different phases of her life. Some of that made sense but after awhile I started getting confused about where I was in the story. Sometimes I felt I didn't know what had transpired for me to be at that particular point. For that reason, I lost my connection with the family's dynamics.
How the family drifted apart was easy to understand. But none of the characters displayed the kind of emotion that made me want to laugh and cry along with them. For me it wasn't the story that lacked depth, but the storytelling.
I seem to be reading alot of memoir lately written by women who grew up in the 1960's and 70's and are now into middle age. Just like me. I hate calling this time in my life middle age but it's a little less abrasive than saying menopause. In any event, it's a time of great reflection on who we are and how we got here.
Judy Mandel is her parent's replacement child. An older sister, Donna, she never knew was killed when a plane crashed into their home. Another sister, Linda was severely burned and scared in the accident a constant reminder of the family's suffering. While her sister carried the visible scars, her parents carried scars on their hearts for a child lost. And Judy, as the replacement child, always remained on the outside trying to see in.
Replacement Child is a very compelling true story about how grief affects each of us differently. What I didn't like was how the author structured the story skipping back and forth between different phases of her life. Some of that made sense but after awhile I started getting confused about where I was in the story. Sometimes I felt I didn't know what had transpired for me to be at that particular point. For that reason, I lost my connection with the family's dynamics.
How the family drifted apart was easy to understand. But none of the characters displayed the kind of emotion that made me want to laugh and cry along with them. For me it wasn't the story that lacked depth, but the storytelling.
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