Thanks to Ecco Books for the free advance copy of this book.

When she was 19 years old, Natasha Trethewey's former stepfather murdered her mother. MEMORIAL DRIVE is Trethewey's attempt to finally confront her grief, and maybe, 35 years later, find closure. 

Natasha Trethewey is the former national poet laureate and a Pulitzer Prize winner, so I knew this book would be a must-read. I did not expect it to be so completely devastating, even knowing it was a story of domestic abuse ending in death. The writing is full of small details snatched from memories as Trethewey tries to untangle prophecy from hindsight, unravel the racism and bigotry she experienced as a mixed race child, and deal with lingering feelings of guilt. Trethewey unearths the story slowly, slowly, until suddenly the moment arrives for the reader just as quickly as it did for her all those years ago. 

One can see precisely how trapped her mother was, and how everyone around them knew the entire family was in danger but could not or did not do anything to stop it. Even with assistance, even when they were able to escape temporarily, her mother’s story sadly goes the way of many abused women, and Trethewey shows us the lasting pain this violence inflicted on everyone left behind. 

Content warnings: murder, domestic abuse (physical and emotional), threats of suicide, alcoholism, racism, misogyny.