This memoir by Pulitzer Prize winner and former US Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey takes readers on a tender, inquisitive, and insightful journey into her relationship with her Black mother, who was murdered in Atlanta by an abusive ex-husband/stepfather when Trethewey was in college. We also learn about Trethewey’s close relationship with her white father during her younger years, when her parents were still married. From the start, the story is put into the racial context of the U.S. in the 1960s.
By the end of Memorial Drive, you’ll have a close-up understanding of the difficulties of getting out of an abusive relationship; of the distorted inner workings of the mind of an abuser; and of the tragic consequences of easy access to firearms — all this in compelling, haunting prose from one of our most important writers. The metaphors and imagery just pop off the page. This memoir could help launch a discussion about easy access to firearms and Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs) or “red flag” laws, in general, and in your state, in particular. Published in 2020. (213 pages)