Swallow the Ocean: A Memoir

Swallow the Ocean: A Memoir
by Laura M. Flynn

Swallow the Ocean: A Memoir
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Book Summary Information

Author: Laura M. Flynn
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-02-01
ISBN: 1582434611
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Counterpoint

Book Reviews of Swallow the Ocean: A Memoir

Book Review: A clear, detailed and heartwrenching look at life with a mentally ill parent
Summary: 5 Stars

This is exactly the kind of memoir I most like to read. The author, Laura Flynn, tells in clear, beautiful language a muddled, sad story---her life with her mother, who was paranoid schizophrenic but refused any treatment. She and her sisters endure years of life with a mother who was increasingly out of touch with reality, who took out much of her anger on Laura's older sister Sara, and who in spite of all this could at times be an amazing, creative mother. This is a also an account of how hard it was in the 1970s for a father to get custody of children, even in a case like this where the mother was clearly unfit to parent. Thankfully, he finally did, and the dramatic way Laura's mother falls apart the day that happens casts a sad light over the memory of the years before and over all the future years. The memoir is also, in a way, one that may give hope to a lot of people---Laura and her sisters turn out well, saved by the happy early years and the love of their father and step-mother, and extended family. I really liked the writing here. The book was well-written without being showy---I never got the feeling this was a showplace for hours spent in writer's workshops, but rather, a story that needed to be told and was told, very well.

Summary of Swallow the Ocean: A Memoir

When Laura Flynn was a little girl, her beautiful, dynamic mother, Sally, was the center of her imagination. It wasn?t long, however, before Sally?s fun-loving side slowly and methodically became absorbed by madness. As Laura?s parents divorced and her father struggled to gain custody, Sally?s symptoms bloomed in earnest while Laura and her sisters united in flights of fancy of the sort their mother taught them so that they might deflect the danger threatening their fragile family.
Set in 1970s San Francisco, Swallow the Ocean is redolent with place. In luminous prose, this memoir paints a most intimate portrait of what might have been a catastrophic childhood had Laura and her sisters not been resilient and determined enough to survive their environment even as they yearned to escape it.

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