Wow, this is the first memoir I've read in a long time. While reading it, I had to keep reminding myself that this wasn't fiction. In some parts, I wish it were fiction. What a harrowing young life Ms. Lawless had. The book was easy to read and flowed through her life easily. Some books are quite choppy. Not this one.

Memoirs such as this one are so important because they serve as a chronicle of eras. More importantly, books such as Lawless' memoir depict a deeper insight into mental illness, especially where parenthood and mental illness collide. Instead of doing harm or furthering the stigma of mental illness, these stories can be very valuable in terms of demonstrating that there are moments of clarity, times when the abuser steps out of their hateful role and demonstrates something that resembles love...or at least the love they're capable of. This is important for explaining to the naysayers a)"why didn't someone rescue you?" or "why didn't you run away?" as well as b) putting an end to the notion that mentally ill people cannot be helped/saved and should not be allowed to have children *yes, that is a belief among some).

Apart from the sadness depicted in the story, this is also an insightful book about an entire era that is slowly being lost to advanced age. Today's "middle-aged" adults were only born during this time period and lack a lot of the awareness of what life was like then. While this is clearly not the normal setting for most people during the 1970s, it is a valuable glimpse into what it was like for some.