Her Last Death (Susanna Sonnenberg)

I love those books that you haven't been reading about or pining after and then they usually fall under your expectations or maybe meet them but then there's no surprise because it's what you expected. Then there are the books that you stumbled on without any urging from other reviewers or barnes and noble lists or goodreads suggestions etc etc etc. The books that jump out at you at the library or maybe you read something about a new book but the review mentions an old book and that's the one you look into and that's the one that charms you for the next day or two. Her Last Death was just that book for me. I was looking at BookPage at the library where I work and it was, as usual, chock full of books for the new year and susanna sonnenberg was in it for her new book about friendship. This appealed to me (I don't have many friends, haha) but what got me glued was her old book, a memoir about her mother. I am a sucker for memoirs by people with mommy issues. This book was unreal. Not unbelievable but unreal in that a person such as Daphne proves that the head is independent of the body; as in as what a nutjob to be able to reproduce. She is a liar, a slut, a selfish bitch of a woman and the daughter, Susanna and her sister, Penelope had to grow up in such a fucked up environment. There's a lot of sex in the book and I cringe at the thought of a mother constantly talking to her daughter about sex and how a boy/man is in bed. It's just crossing lines. Then there's drugs and more sex,not graphic details because we all know it's about but the idea that it was a huge part of this writer's childhood and life. I loved the writing. It skipped over parts and went back to different times but wasn't confusing. I felt for the writer and how powerful her words were; how truthful and raw she exposed herself (good and bad) and it wasn't looking for pity. I didn't get that; if someone comes across as pathetic i get annoyed and won't finish the book. This one I devoured. What a mother. I thought mine was ridiculous. Talk about perspective.