4 out of 4 stars
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Mary Alice is a beautiful memoir/biography by mother-daughter duo Ilda Weatherford and Cora Bantner. Mary Alice, the subject of this book, is Ilda’s mother and Cora’s grandmother. The storyline spans three generations, starting from how and when Mary Alice’s parents met, to her children’s early childhood and adolescence.
Mary Alice’s father was a rascal in his youth. Such was his knavery that one day a Gypsy group found him floating on the water, tarred and feathered. He was rescued and allowed to remain with the group; but then he impregnates Ercyline, one of the Gypsy girls. The Gypsy elders promptly forced him to marry her and left them to start their lives together. Ercyline had to endure a lot of hardship, eventually birthing Mary Alice on her own, as she had no access to healthcare. As a child, Mary Alice proved to be very intelligent and curious, and could read from the early age of 3. She was also a keenly observant child who loved nature, and from an early age, she could tell safe plants from dangerous ones. As an adult, Mary Alice consistently proved to be a strong pillar of support in all the communities she lived in. This book chronicles her childhood exploits and adult life in such an engaging manner that you will have a hard time putting it down. I sure did.
I love this book’s candid portrayal of Mary’s life. The story is written in third person narrative and feels like fiction. Indeed, there are quite a number of things to learn from this book. The parts that highlight Mary Alice’s endurance through the difficulties are very uplifting, and they reinforce the idea that most times, we can avoid becoming victims of circumstance if we refuse to allow our situation in life define us. Her willingness to help people in need proved to be a real blessing for her family and the communities where they lived. In contrast to our self-serving society, Mary Alice’s story teaches the immeasurable value of kindness. If you enjoy reading memoirs, I recommend this book to you.
The rhythm and pacing of this book were one of the things that kept my head in it. For the most part, I was not left feeling lost or wondering what happened. The exception to this was the fact that the book doesn’t say where or how Mary Alice met her husband Francis. I do not understand why that part was left out. But since this story was actually written by her daughter Ilda and finished by her grand-daughter Cora, I suppose they it is possible they do not know. Other than this, the book is well organized and the events in it are easy to follow.
I cannot say much about the formatting of this book, because the book I received was more of a manuscript. The writers also use a lot of old spellings and colloquialisms; for example, spelling “here” as “ere”, “tomorrow” as “tommora”, and “onto” as “untuh.” I assume that these spellings are not errors because that style is used repeatedly in the book. Therefore, I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. I join the people who have read this book before me in screaming: “Encore, Cora!”
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Mary Alice
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. Thanks for your review! I'd absolutely like to read this book.
That aside, this book genuinely seems to have a really captivating plot, and I'm definitely putting it on my to-read list 
