First non-fiction of the year!

I’m reading a few at the same time, but flew through this one.

Memoirs that observe relationships between mother & daughter are engrossing to me, especially when those relationships are so flawed.

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SYNOPSIS

Ten years ago, Helen Naylor discovered her mother, Elinor, had been faking debilitating illnesses for thirty years. After Elinor’s self-induced death, Helen found her diaries, which Elinor wrote daily for over fifty years. The diaries reveal not only the inner workings of Elinor’s twisted mind and self-delusion, but also shocking revelations about Helen’s childhood.

Everything Helen knew about herself and her upbringing was founded on a lie. The unexplained accidents and days spent entirely on her own as a little girl, imagining herself climbing into the loft and disappearing into a different world, tell a story of neglect[…]

My Mother, Munchausen’s and Me is a heart-breaking, honest and brave account of a daughter unravelling the truth about her mother and herself. It’s a story of a stolen childhood, mental illness, and the redemptive power of breaking a complex and toxic bond.

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REVIEW

I really appreciated the excerpts from the mother’s diary. It felt powerful to hear them in contrast with the daughter’s memory/perspective.

It was so interesting that Helen was oblivious/blind to her mother’s mental state until adulthood. I learned a lot from watching her condition deteriorate and the way it was perceived by family/friends.

I always thought Munchausen’s was rare, but this book made me realize how difficult it is to diagnose. It might be more common than we can imagine.

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