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Rating: 
Summary: Honesty Can Be Pure Hell
Review: "My mother died of depression. She took her life to end her pain." --Linda Gray Sexton
Living with Anne Sexton must have been like living in hell--and her daughter, Linda Gray Sexton, leaves absolutely nothing out of this book. She allows every dirty secret to emerge like a sort of bitterness filling the air.
Such as Anne's body lying on top of her-- "She's very heavy...I want to scream-get off, get off, get off!"--Linda Gray Sexton
Without Linda G. Sexton's honesty, "Mercy Street" would have been just another Mommy Dearest, but this was not. This book was about therapy, change, and forgiveness: this book was about new beginnings.
"Without knowing it, mother passes out to me her powers of observation. She shows me how to watch, how to see, how to record what transpires in the world around me. This is how I inherit her greatest gift..."--Linda Gray Sexton
"Searching for Mercy Street" was about rising above an environment which could have easily turned one into the same monsters you coexisted with--
But Linda Gray does not only show the reader the monster, the molester, the mentally ill, Anne Sexton-- she shows us the victim, the darkly depressed poet-- who without writing, would have killed herself long ago; she shows us a mother who did the best she could,even while walking through the dark.
Linda Gray Sexton finally arrives whole--In a world for her that was once motherless--
Now, after years of searching, she has found the mother within, and Anne Sexton herself,with all her imperfections, lives within that person too.
Rating: 
Summary: Linda Sexton Earns Honorary Name "Gray"
Review: As the reader learns, the name "Gray" was given to family members who would attain the writer's gift. Respecting this honorary heirloom, Linda's words flow beautifully as she recalls her life with impressive detail. Linda expresses discomfort in revisiting the haunting moments of her life, but she doesn't stop reaching for information. Instead, she keeps pinching her insides until she's squeezed out each emotion, sharing her life and Anne's impact on it with the most lucid honesty. What courage to be able to look at oneself as closely as Linda does! While enjoying the detailed account of humanity, I also learned the story of Anne Sexton, a brilliant artist and complex person who suffered a lot, and caused much suffering-- as well as joy. This book also demonstrates how writing poetry or even non-fiction as therapy can truly become art if the writer is real, fearless and generous with detail. I appreciated the educational value of the information about the emotional impact of mental illness on an individual and a family. Anyone who writes, ever feels blue, or appreciates learning about the mind of the artist should read this book. I also recommend reading "Touched with Fire", Kay Redfield Jamison's study of Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament, as well as "An "Unquiet Mind", her autobiography. Also, reading more of Sexton's poetry (many poems are excerpted in Linda Gray Sexton's book) completes the picture. [Linda, Anne would be pleased to know how well you have learned to see.~JAD]
Rating:
Summary: Linda Sexton Earns Honorary Name "Gray"
Review: As the reader learns, the name "Gray" was given to family members who would attain the writer's gift. Respecting this honorary heirloom, Linda's words flow beautifully as she recalls her life with impressive detail. Linda expresses discomfort in revisiting the haunting moments of her life, but she doesn't stop reaching for information. Instead, she keeps pinching her insides until she's squeezed out each emotion, sharing her life and Anne's impact on it with the most lucid honesty. What courage to be able to look at oneself as closely as Linda does! While enjoying the detailed account of humanity, I also learned the story of Anne Sexton, a brilliant artist and complex person who suffered a lot, and caused much suffering-- as well as joy. This book also demonstrates how writing poetry or even non-fiction as therapy can truly become art if the writer is real, fearless and generous with detail. I appreciated the educational value of the information about the emotional impact of mental illness on an individual and a family. Anyone who writes, ever feels blue, or appreciates learning about the mind of the artist should read this book. I also recommend reading "Touched with Fire", Kay Redfield Jamison's study of Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament, as well as "An "Unquiet Mind", her autobiography. Also, reading more of Sexton's poetry (many poems are excerpted in Linda Gray Sexton's book) completes the picture. [Linda, Anne would be pleased to know how well you have learned to see.~JAD]
Rating:
Summary: captivating, enthralling
Review: I actually read this book while it was in production -- I was on the proofreading team for the publisher's typesetter -- and the entire team was enthralled by this book. Work is work, and usually we would would deal with the task at hand, but on breaks and over lunch, many of us working on this book would have mini-sessions about the author, her mother, the context of the relationship. We all felt very personally attached and protective of this book because we were working with the manuscript, which had handwritten notes between the author and her editor in the margins. It wasn't simply a narrative, we were keenly aware of the humanity behind the words. However, that awareness was truly heightened by the sensitive and thoughtful writing. Of course, my reading experience is unique to my situation, but I urge all readers to give this book some time. It's worth the investment.
Rating:
Summary: Opened My Eyes
Review: I could not put this book down. Linda Gray Sexton's honesty was enlightening. She portrayed her mother as more than a woman with a mental illness. It is a portrait of a smart intelligent woman struggling to find meaning in her mentally ill life who at times rises above it but eventually succumbs. It is evident that Anne loved her daughters, but showed it in atypical ways. After reading this book, I find myself very interested in the work of Anne Sexton and her life. It gives a fresh and candid glimpse at this amazingly talented, yet tragic woman and a daughter who struggled to make sense out of her mother's love.
Rating:
Summary: "Mommie Dearest", deja vu
Review: I have never been a great fan of Anne Sexton, the poet. But after reading the memoir written by her daughter, I doubt that I would cherish the words the poet wrung from the souls of her young. To grow up in a household where genius resides is a terrible burden. I find it amazing that Sexton's daughters, especially Linda, survived at all. It is a book painted with a palette of despair, but never mean-spirited. It was, after all, a story begging to be told:"...I would bring her back to life, but to do so would require that I give up my life to her; to do so would require an act of cannibalism on her part, to reverse this process that every other mother and daughter engage in- the mother-daughter dance, birth and death..." Linda Gray Sexton saves the most painful revelation until last, and it becomes the defining action I will most associate with Anne Sexton. This poet, this mother, unable to attain her own epiphany, extends the cycle of emotional violence into another generation, and the betrayed becomes the betrayer. Linda Gray Sexton did what she could, finally said "no more". This is by no means an indictment of the daughter. Rather, I applaud her choice for life and freedom, for her own future, for her own children.
Rating:
Summary: Opened My Eyes
Review: I worked with Linda closely for a year when she had small children in the Mid-1980's. I was very touched and disturbed by this book. I found it to the point, but forgiving. I commend Linda for her resiliency and candor. I know that to write this book she had to rediscover many guarded memories. I encourage all to read it. Anne Sexton was a complicated, brilliant artist. Her life was fascinating to read about, especially from her daughter's intimate perpective. The poems that were included helped me to more fully understand the artist and woman through the different stages of her life. I hope Linda writes again.
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