Murderous Memories

Jean Small Brinson's book Murderous Memories is a courageous account of a life that most of us would find unbelieveable, and certainly unbearable. Growing up on a sharecropper's farm in South Carolina with her six siblings, an angelic mother and a sadistic father, Jean, her sisters, and her mother were the regular targets of beatings at the hands of her father. In this grim slice of American culture, men were expected to "keep their womenfolk in line" , and Jean's mother resorted to the only way she could to save herself and her children--murdering her husband. Jean's account of how she helped her mother through these darkest years of hiding and trying to escape the torment, and then how she dealt with the legacy of this intense emotional trauma, is raw, gripping, and compelling. You will find yourself reading this book in one sitting, grimacing with each new horror revealed, and marveling at the courage and tenacity that Jean shows as she struggles to face her demons and make a normal life for herself.