Heartfelt… The first chapter begins with the story of Hattie Shepherd and how her family left Georgia in the early 1900s to head North in search of freedom and away from the dangerous and segregated town from which they came. Hattie marries at the early age of 17 and becomes pregnant with twins. Life seems to be heading in the right direction for this young couple until tragedy strikes and the twins develop a case of phenomena. Hattie doesn’t know how to help them nor can she afford to seek medical attention. One of the saddest things in the world is watching someone you love suffer and you feeling helpless. Your heart breaks as you read how this mom does everything in her power to save her children.
Ingenious…. The way this book was written is remarkable. Hattie has 11 children and 1 granddaughter. Within each chapter we learn who her children are today but also experience what it was like growing up in the Shepherd household. It’s captivating because although Hattie felt that she did the best she could with loving and protecting them, her children remember life growing up much differently through their eyes and the memories are extremely unpleasant.
Brutal…. It just doesn’t seem fair that one family can face such traumatic ordeals. In this book so many issues come to surface and burns to the core. The author really made the characters come to life and you’re instantly attached to them. The struggles this family face are; infidelity, mental illness, sexual abuse, drug abuse, death, and homosexuality. It’s amazing that while reading, you think about all of the issues that went on in the 20th century still exist in the world in which we live today. The only difference is how we choose to handle it. This was an excellent read!
