Review: Raw and Powerful Personal Memoir
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 29, 2013
Told with unflinching honesty and a real compassion, Kimberly Biller's memoir has seared itself into my memory. In direct, heart-felt language 'I couldn't lay in the bed they made' tells the sad story of families, parents and children, decimated by drinking and mental health problems. Forced into marriage when far too young, into adult responsibilities when far too young, none of the people in this memoir have a childhood in which to grow and form. The battling co-dependent parents, struggling with their inner demons and addictions, are so wrapped up in themselves and their own issues and pain that they have no time or inner resources to care for and to love their children. They have never known love and so cannot show it. Worse, they and then their poor youngsters seek a way out through drink and drugs for relief for their inner tumult. All are desperate for love and yet cannot give it. How can anyone escape such a devastating cycle and chaotic upbringing?This memoir shows how. Through mistakes, yes, but in recognizing and in owning such mistakes. Through caring and forgiveness, including self-forgiveness. Through building and creating an independent life. Through self-respect and respect for others. The lessons are drawn together by Kimberly herself in a powerful conclusion, shared with compassion and never in a 'preaching' way. It's an amazing testament to the strength of the human spirit and to the power of hope, to building and re-building and finally, in finding love.