Review: A Mother's Sacrifice
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 18, 2013
In the follow up to Card House: The First Hand, the Second Hand brings you back into the Yarbrough household. The one scene that really captured my attention and my heart the most, was the scene where Sabrina, finally confronted her mother, Gloria about the verbal, physical, and sexual abuse, that she endured as a teenager from her father, James. J Maurice did an excellent job of comparing and contrasting the mind state of the modern woman vs. that of the pre- women's rights woman, in their conversation. On one hand you have a strong minded, outspoken, and at sometimes violent Sabrina who refused to let any man control her. Then we have Gloria, a woman from the South who was brought up in an era where women were primarily child bearers and housewives. She had very little education, no job skills, and had four children she had to raise. As a result although she knew that James' actions were toxic to her children, she lacked the courage and necessary tools she needed to survive on her own. I can imagine it had to be pretty rough knowing all the things that were going on in that house, yet feeling completely helpless. I understand she allowed it, because James was the bread winner and provided food, clothes, and shelter for the household, but Sabrina being a modern woman could never absorb that concept. The way she admonished her mother, you could feel the emotions ripping through the pages. I was almost at the brink of tears as if I were standing there watching the entire ordeal unfold. This is a great story filled with several climatic scenes and revelations. I am looking forward to the Reshuffle, that excerpt has my mind wandering what book 3 has in store.