My Dead Parents is a memoir written by the youngest daughter. She describes a childhood inundated with a demanding, largely absentee father and a mother increasingly spiraling into extreme alcoholism. After both parents deaths, the author pieces together the story of her parents lives, their marriage, and begins to see and comprehend more than she had before. In the end, I think she made peace with the difficulties of her past and came to accept her parents for who they were.

This memoir was not what I expected based on the blurb. It was so much more than just an investigation into the author’s father’s death or even her parent’s love story. She relates her early life as she saw it before her parents died and revisits her own experience in light of more information, the benefit of asking questions and trying to get outside her own interpretation to see a fuller picture. Her honesty and courageous seeking makes for a lovely, well-written story. Highly recommended.