3 out of 4 stars
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Love’s The Only House by Debra Godsee is an autobiography. The book details the life of the author since childhood and the events that led to her estrangement from her three sons. It contains approximately 100 pages and has been divided into thirteen chapters. The first part of the book entails a description of the life of the author since childhood until marriage. The second part consists of several letters to her sons.
The book opens with a plethora of questions as the author begins narrating her childhood memories. She reveals the pleasant memories that filled her childhood. Eventually, she got married, and they had three sons with her first husband. She began noticing strange behaviors in her sons one day and suspected that they were being abused. There was a lot of air of uncertainty that developed when the author began observing the signs of sexual abuse. Her children feared to stay at home and would prefer going to the park. The home was no longer safe without their mum. How was she going to prove her fears? Would the culprit be brought to book?
I enjoyed the first chapters of the book immensely as they helped to substantiate the fact that children possess powerful memories. I was led down memory lane to my early childhood years as well as I tried recalling some notable and unforgettable experiences. I also liked the letters she wrote to her sons. They were very emotional. They revealed the heart of a mother who cherishes her children very much but cannot reach them due to restrictions placed on her. However, she has not given up and still hopes to meet them one day. I hope they will meet.
The book addresses many themes. The most prominent one was care for children. Many people do not recognize the ability of a child to remember events right from birth to the age of five years. Physical protection is normally emphasized over psychological care during the early years. In this book, the author cautions parents and guardians against undermining the memory of a child aged five or younger. The author proves a young child can remember a lot of things that happen during childhood by narrating her own experiences. The other themes are family, love, trust, and reconciliation.
What I liked most in the book was the courage of the author to recount her own experiences with the aim of helping others. Her love for her children is equally great. On the other hand, the book had several grammatical flaws that included overuse of the comma. The errors can be eliminated if another round of editing is done. I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars because of the grammatical errors. I recommend it to readers who love autobiographies. The book contains explicit content as the author describes reasons why she suspected her sons were being abused. Therefore, I do not recommend it to young readers.
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Love's The Only House
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