Who Do You Think You Are?

Title: Who Do You Think You Are?
Author: Alyse Myers
Publisher: Touchstone
Genre: Memoir - Non-Fiction
Pages: 250
On Sale: April 28, 2009

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Synopsis:

After her mother's death, Alyse Myers covets only one thing: a wooden box that sits in the back of a closet. Its contents have been kept from her for her entire life. When she was thirteen years old her mother promised she could have the box, "when I'm dead. In fact, it'll be my present to you." Growing up in Queens in the 1960s and '70s, Alyse always yearned for more in life, while her mother settled for an unhappy marriage, an unsatisfying job, and ultimately a joyless existence. Her father drifts in and out of their home. There are harrowing fights, abject cruelty, and endless uncertainty. Throughout her childhood Alyse adamantly rejects everything about her mother's lifestyle, leaving her mother to ask "Who do you think you are?"

My Review:
This story grabbed me from the first page, the wooden box and it's contents became something I needed to know more about. Written in a conversational manner the story of Alyse and her relationship with mother and father unfolds slowly, its details revealed in much the same way Alyse discovers them. With haunting undertones and an honest voice we see the struggles of Alyse and her mother as she looks back and tries to decide just exactly who she thinks she is and what exactly it is she deserves in life.

I gave this book 1 heart for no heat whatsoever
2 stars because it is a worthwhile story to read and its very well told, but I'm not sure if I would run out and read another story by this author; It's hard to follow up a memoir with the same kind of feelings and reactions.

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Disclosure: In exchange for reading and reviewing this book I received a copy of Who Do You Think You Are?

Crossposted at Cursingmama.blogspot.com