Letter to My Daughter by George Bishop
February 2010 by Ballantine Books
Hardcover, 160 pages
Review Copy
Book Synopsis
A fight, ended by a slap, sends Elizabeth out the door of her Baton Rouge home on the eve of her fifteenth birthday. Her mother, Laura, is left to fret and worry—and remember. Wracked with guilt as she awaits Liz’s return, Laura begins a letter to her daughter, hoping to convey “everything I’ve always meant to tell you but never have.” In her painfully candid confession, Laura shares memories of her own troubled adolescence in rural Louisiana, growing up in an intensely conservative household. She recounts her relationship with a boy she loved despite her parents’ disapproval, the fateful events that led to her being sent away to a strict Catholic boarding school, the personal tragedy brought upon her by the Vietnam War, and, finally, the meaning of the enigmatic tattoo below her right hip........ (Goodreads)
Review
A sorrowful book filled with a mother’s past and present lamenting. Letter to My Daughter is just that- a very long letter addressed to a fifteen year old rebellious girl who has just ran away from home.
Laura – hoping, praying, waiting for Elizabeth’s return decides to write about her teenage life and relay to Elizabeth that she too at one time was fifteen and she too faced the struggles of hating her parents and having life fall to pieces around her……
A book with a beautiful premise of mother and daughter relationships failed short to showcase the dynamics of mother and daughter and focused more on political agenda.The same yammering story over the Vietnam War. The same liberal drivel I’ve heard a thousand times: Young naïve girl whips her panties down for the soft-eyed poor boy, whose only choice after the couple has been torn apart by her racist, bigot Conservative parents is to enlist in the Army and head off to Vietnam. While Tim is fighting in the war, losing his soul and having his spirit crushed, Laura is at boarding school, being educated by the strength and backbone of investigative journalism. During her time at school and months lost between her and Tim, she grows apart (big surprise) from the idea of Tim and Tim himself.
Don’t get me wrong, I would never discredit the awful things that happened during the Vietnam War or the fact that the country drastically changed during that time. I wasn’t a part of that era so of course I can’t base my opinion on being there or living through it, but I have parents who lived during that time and there are more sides to the issue than the same worn out story of the cheated solider and the coming of age feminist. Politics in a story normally don't bother me, if you are coming from a liberal or conservative stand point I will listen to both sides, but when it only consists of bashing and never explains why a character (or the author) believes in the things they believe in, it only discredits the opinion.
The sparkle of a story is defiantly there, luring us in with Laura’s past, and the writing flowed nicely, but the conservative bashing got so thick I was distracted from the story and found myself disagreeing with what the characters were thinking, feeling and saying. Take for example the off the cuff remark Laura mutters about a parent worried over a child- "fear would make any open-minded person a raving conservative"- Well call me crazy people but since when did open-mindedness involve letting your children do drugs, encourage them to have sex and let them live their lives expressing themselves through whatever means necessary. I disagree with your thoughts on responsible parenting Mr. Bishop. Not all parents who set rules and boundaries for their children are racists, some are actually good people who may be conservative and yet still maintain the capability of having an open understanding mind.
Rating
Language, sexuality, war, politics, boarding school drama and adult coming of age content. Recommended to adult readers.
2/5- Coming of Age Drama
Thanks to Librarything for Review Copy
Thank you for your open honest review. This definitely sounds like one I should pass on.
ReplyDeletetitle sounds good and something I would do to my girls..but your review wants to not read it. Thanks for being so Honest.
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