Book No: 84
Title: Still Waters
Author: Jennifer Lauck
Genre: Memoir
Published: 2001
Obtained: 2008/Kindle
Completed: 11/23/08
No. of Pages:448
Rating: 4/5*****
At the end of Blackbird, Jennifer Lauk’s first memoir, 12 yeaar old Jennifer’s wicked stepmother (literally) finally relinquishes custody of her and her brother Bryan and we are left to believe she is finally safe. Unfortunately it was not to be.
This book opens with the police report chronicling Bryan’s suicide. We know then that maybe there is no happy ever after. Jennifer is first cared for by her grandparents, slowly settling in. She soon learns it is temporary and that her brother is living with one aunt and uncle, and she is going to live with another. Peggy and Dick Duemore eventually adopt Jennifer, but she is valued more for her Social Security check and housekeeping skills than anything else. She stumbles through her life unloved and barely cared for. Upon finally going to college and freeing herself from her ‘family’ she begins to carve out a new life for herself, eventually finding the courage to face her past and her brother’s death.
Again a deeply sad story and although one can sense the anger in this memoir one is also rewarded with the knowledge that Jennifer Lauck has found some measure of peace and happiness in her life. She has a wonderful writing style and voice that makes you care deeply about her.
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