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Monday, March 9, 2009
title: The Mighty Queens of Freeville: A Mother, a Daughter, and the Town That Raised Them
author: Amy Dickinson
published: 2009
pages: 225
genre: memoir
first line: One December day in the mid 1980's, I looked out the front window of my mother's house and watched my soon-to-be husband walking up the road.
rated: 4 out of 5
In The Mighty Queens of Freeville, Amy Dickinson tells about her life as a single mother.
Amy was married for a few years, and moved from the States to London because of her husband's job. By her early thirties, she finds herself divorced with a 2 year old. Having come from a family where divorce is more common than not, Amy had really hoped for a happy marriage that lasted. Her marriage came to an end when her husband, who was barely home due to his work, asked for a divorce. Later on, he admits to having cheated on Amy.
She moves back to her small hometown of Freeville and hopes to make a new life for herself and her daughter. Then Amy does what she was meant to do, she becomes an advice columnist.
The way Amy narrates her story, the way she describes the moment, you can almost imagine her and it almost feels like she can be someone you know in real life.
When my marriage was ending, I'd sit in the tub quietly sobbing, hoping that I didn't wake the baby and wondering if secondhand smoke would seep under the door and get into her baby lungs. I'd just taken up smoking again, because if I was going to get divorced, then I might as well be a smoking, blowsy divorcee, a Joan Crawford divorcee.
All the while Amy's extended family and friends, which consists of mostly women, these 'Mighty Queens of Freeville', help and support her. Her own father left her family and once in a while pops back up into thier lives. Amy winds up having a bit of closure in the end. This was another aspect of Amy's life I could relate to. I think this is why I liked this book so much, I felt like I could connect with it.
I really enjoyed The Mighty Queens of Freeville. It was funny, sweet, sad and moving all at once. I laughed out loud more than once. Especially when she was helping her dad move a home with his tractor trailor. There's a hand drawn diagram in the book to help the reader visualize the job at hand. lol.
For this being a short book, 225 long, it really makes quite an impression. I myself was raised by a single mother, so I could relate to Amy and what she had gone through raising her daughter alone.
Being a parent, as it turns out, isn't about deadlines. It's about the space in between.
About the Author:
Amy Dickinson is the author of the syndicated advice column "Ask Amy," which appears in more than 150 newspapers nationwide. She is the host of a biweekly feature on NPR's "Talk of the Nation" and is a panelist on NPR's quiz show "Wait Wait . . . Don't Tell Me!" She lives in Chicago and Freeville, New York.
visit the author's website: http://www.themightyqueensoffreeville.com/
This wonderful book came to me courtesy of a great site: MotherTalk.com. Thank you for choosing me as one of your reviewers!
Check out their book reviews here
