Me & Emma by Flock Elizabeth

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Elizabeth Flock has written a heartbreaking tale of child abuse, human suffering, and the misery of severe poverty. Me & Emma is set against a disturbing North Carolina backdrop, and follows the lives of eight-year-old Carrie Parker, her young widowed mother, a drunken and abusive step-father, and six-year-old Emma Parker.

Flock tells the story through the eyes and narrative voice of Carrie, capturing the innocence of childhood mingled with the horror of those destructive forces that all too often visit the most vulnerable. It's six-year-old Emma who absorbs the abuse (physical and sexual) for older sister Carrie, acting as a buffer between the older girl and the monster that is their step-father. But things here aren't as they seem.

What Flock has done so well is lay a foundation on which she invites the reader to stand, then, when you're good and comfortable, she yanks that foundation right out from under you. It becomes one of those "No way!" moments that so often makes for amazing reads. This truly is a fantastic story, well written, and in need of a big-screen treatment. I highly recommend this to anybody who enjoys a seriously well-told story.



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