| Book Review: Swallow the Ocean: A Memoir by Laura Flynn |
One day like so many who love the rich literary life in the
Minneapolis area, I found myself craving the company of words.
I looked, as I often do, to the Loft Literary Center website to
see what they had around the corner. I found a publication
reading for Swallow the Ocean by Laura Flynn, a professor of
the University of Minnesota's Writing program. The book is a
memoir about growing up in 1970s San Francisco as her mother
was drifting further into the grasp of paranoid schizophrenia.
As the book began, Laura's mother, Sally didn't seem so bad.
She loved her daughters and her husband, had a few eccentric
habits like reading about the paranormal, and meditating, and she
had a hard time throwing things away. But more and more
Sally's world becomes something very different than the one her
husband and children experience. Laura's father is the first to
break away when he and Sally get divorced. He becomes a
weekend father, while Laura, her older sister Sara, and her
younger sister, Amy stay with their mother, and somehow learn
to adapt. They help shop for Sally when she is afraid to leave
their apartment. They learn the difference between good and evil
products as to not upset their mother. They learn to keep their
friends out of their home, which had become messy and barely
passable with the clutter Sally will not dare throw away.
This memoir is very well crafted. Their mother's illness was
always a shadow in their lives, but Laura and her sisters proved
resilient, relying on each other, and the games they played with
their Little Women character dolls. The girls pulled Meg, Jo,
Beth, and Amy in and out of situations Louisa May Alcott never
imagined. My point is that these little girls are so much more than
their mother's daughters, and it is to her credit that Flynn does
not get so wrapped up in the illness that she forgets to include
the simple pleasures of childhood.
The illness is a shadow, but does not overshadow. Rather than
casting a bitter tone, as can be the case in a book chronicalling a
difficult childhood, Flynn remains respectful of her mother as she
helps us understand the realities of the disease.
All in all, I saw very impressed with Swallow the Ocean and
hope to hear more from Laura Flynn in the future.
Minneapolis area, I found myself craving the company of words.
I looked, as I often do, to the Loft Literary Center website to
see what they had around the corner. I found a publication
reading for Swallow the Ocean by Laura Flynn, a professor of
the University of Minnesota's Writing program. The book is a
memoir about growing up in 1970s San Francisco as her mother
was drifting further into the grasp of paranoid schizophrenia.
As the book began, Laura's mother, Sally didn't seem so bad.
She loved her daughters and her husband, had a few eccentric
habits like reading about the paranormal, and meditating, and she
had a hard time throwing things away. But more and more
Sally's world becomes something very different than the one her
husband and children experience. Laura's father is the first to
break away when he and Sally get divorced. He becomes a
weekend father, while Laura, her older sister Sara, and her
younger sister, Amy stay with their mother, and somehow learn
to adapt. They help shop for Sally when she is afraid to leave
their apartment. They learn the difference between good and evil
products as to not upset their mother. They learn to keep their
friends out of their home, which had become messy and barely
passable with the clutter Sally will not dare throw away.
This memoir is very well crafted. Their mother's illness was
always a shadow in their lives, but Laura and her sisters proved
resilient, relying on each other, and the games they played with
their Little Women character dolls. The girls pulled Meg, Jo,
Beth, and Amy in and out of situations Louisa May Alcott never
imagined. My point is that these little girls are so much more than
their mother's daughters, and it is to her credit that Flynn does
not get so wrapped up in the illness that she forgets to include
the simple pleasures of childhood.
The illness is a shadow, but does not overshadow. Rather than
casting a bitter tone, as can be the case in a book chronicalling a
difficult childhood, Flynn remains respectful of her mother as she
helps us understand the realities of the disease.
All in all, I saw very impressed with Swallow the Ocean and
hope to hear more from Laura Flynn in the future.
