The Sitting Swing

Irene Watson
Plain View Press (2005)
ISBN 1891386492
Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for Reader Views (8/06)

 

 

Irene Watson offers us a view of her childhood with an abusive mother and an emotionally distant father.  With the assistance of therapeutic treatment center Ms Watson comes to terms with her past and looks to her future. She comes to face that fact that she strives to please everyone.  It took great courage for the author to share her story with the world.

From the moment I picked up this book I was hooked.  I found my eyes wet with tears as I read of the abuse that Irene suffered over the years.  I also found that I was angry for the little girl sitting on the swing.   My anger swelled as I read of the beatings, the abuse at the hands of males that was totally ignored and hidden.  Dirty little secrets must be hidden.  And, yet I found the book written with a hidden humor.  I could picture a young girl trying to cough up a cow.

Irene takes us back in time to 1942 when her brother Alexander was born and died.  Her mother blamed herself for his death.  When Irene was born her mother wasn’t going to loose another child.  Irene became a prisoner with invisible chains.  Her father left all child rearing up to the “woman of the house”.  He was more comfortable tending the farm.

Male cousins abused Irene mercilessly leaving bruises and humiliating her.  But worse than the abuse is being told by a “loving” mother to stop making up stories.  The story continues as Irene grows older and is attacked by a neighbor boy and later by a friend.  Her mother heard her screams for help but never came to her aide.

Irene managed to escape her home life when she left school and took a job.  Bob comes along and sweeps her off her feet.  After years of marriage Irene begins to question their relationship.  By coming to terms with her past she also comes to terms with her future with her husband Bob.

This book is beautifully written.   Irene is a strong courageous woman to have placed this all on paper.  We all have skeletons in our closet but not all of us are brave enough to not only face them, do battle and conqueror them, but to share them with others so that others may learn from us.

Ms Watson thank you for sharing. I recommend this book for adults learning to cope with their upbringing.  This book is not meant to entertain but to reach to the very depths of your soul.

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Reviewed by Shaila Abdullah for Reader Views (12/05)

A poignant, thought-provoking, and moving tale of a little girl's journey to adulthood, living in a house where she was at once vulnerable and smothered and later largely ignored. The memoir is an inner reflection of the author as she struggles to understand the events in her life and her own reactions to them.

The book is cleverly marked with light hearted instances that help keep readers riveted, such as the author as a girl trying to cough up a child, since that's how she was told babies are born. An interesting memoir, that will keep you riveted throughout. The author has a clear, easy flowing style that's almost conversational and allows readers to connect almost from the start.

(The Sitting Swing received Honorable Mention in the 2006 IPPY [Independent Publisher Book Awards] Best Regional - Canada West which includes British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.)

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