Review: TOIL AND TROUBLE
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 3, 2014
I had trouble deciding whether to give this book three or four stars. As mentioned in many other reviews, there are some issues with editing, grammar, syntax and story flow. However, I cannot deny that the character of Amelia is well developed and compelling. We have all met people in our life time that seemed to be dogged by tragedy; Amelia is certainly one such person.At the outset, the author is writing her memoir to be given to her young daughter when she grows up. It is meant to explain the childhood that Amelia cannot bring herself to talk about when asked about her past. The rest of the book depicts a life filled with cruelty, abuse, deceit, bullying, unfortunate circumstances, and the insensitivity of society toward the plight of children who are too young to defend themselves. Amelia's mother is an alcoholic and a drug addict who is unable to forge a loving relationship with any of her husbands or her children, Amelia and her brother Jake. Later on she has two more children, one of whom is disabled. Amelia's mother beats and locks up her children, she drugs them with sleeping pills, and leaves them on their own. But their mother Heidi is always successful in deceiving the Social Welfare authorities. Eventually the children are placed in daycare and foster care. They must face a whole new set of challenges. Amelia is much stronger than Jake, but she alternates between striving for success, and following a path of disobedience and resistance. Every time things seem to be looking up, she must face a new challenge either from the authorities or her peers. How will the spiral end? As an adult, will Amelia triumph or fail?I could not put this book down and read it in one sitting. Warning, do not read this book when you are feeling blue; it certainly is not one to lift your spirits. The fact remains that this is story that needs to be told, and a problem that remains hidden under the surface but one that needs to be brought out into the open and addressed. For children like Amelia are at the mercy of those in society who are bound and sworn by conscience to protect them.