A memoir told in essays and graphic shorts about what life looks like 20 years after recovery from addiction—and how to live with the past as a parent, writer, and sober person—from a regular opener for David Sedaris, Cindy House.
Moving ... House shines particularly when writing about her past and speculating on how her community would treat her, and her son, if they fully knew about her history of addiction. With care and sensitivity, she depicts herself at different points in her life: as a curious child, as a woman navigating rebab, and, ultimately, as a mother to a son looking for answers ... A powerful, brilliant exploration of motherhood and its inextricable links to the other selves comprising a mother; those pieces that society doesn’t accept as part of the entrenched narrative about the meaning and purpose of motherhood.
Motherhood and mental illness form the double helix of House’s debut book that combines titled, episodic pieces with some of House’s drawings, which resemble faithfully reproduced family photographs ... Exalting art, our families, and ourselves, House’s writing is serious with room for lightness, polished without sacrificing sincerity. Memoir devotees will find it hard to put down.
Brilliant ... A mix of unflinchingly frank vignettes and vivid sketches ... Echoes of Sedaris seep through in House’s mordant wit...but it’s her raw prose and poignant musings on parenting...that make this sing. A full-throated anthem of hope, this lends light to a dark issue.
