Rating: 
Summary: The Pains of a Childhood
Review: What seems like a simple story of three sisters raised by their maternal grandmother, Mama Laurel, in Cleveland, Ohio turns out to be a complicated mix of personalities and situations resulting in the attempted suicide of the youngest sister. To further complicate matters, is the paternal grandmother's arrival from North Carolina after the suicide attempt.Mama Laurel and Gram Naomi hate each other; neither could ever agree on how to raise the children "properly." Because of buried secrets and the need to protect the family name, Olivia, the baby of the girls, is forced to forge ahead, forget about it, say nothing! Unable to handle her grief, she attempts suicide. The suicide attempt is what brings each character full circle. Realizing their behavioral flaws and what part they may have played in the suicide attempt, each woman has some sort of resurrection so that the healing can begin for all. McCarthy Louard has written a plausible novel with characters that you love to hate and characters that you care about and root for. She is able to pull you into their lives with some action packed drama. This is a good novel from a first time novelist because it exposed a topic that is not often discussed honestly and intelligently.......Reviewed by Dawn R. Reeves, APOOO BookClub
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