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Little Avalanches: A Memoir
A daughter’s quest for truth. A soldier’s fight for survival. Their shared search for understanding.
Little Avalanches is a gorgeously written memoir of breathtaking scope that propels readers from the beaches of California in the early ‘70s to the battlefields of World War II.
As a young girl, Becky is forced to hide from phantom Nazis, subjected to dental procedures without pain medication, and torn from her mother again and again. Growing up in the shadow of her father’s PTSD, she wants to know what is wrong but knows not to ask.
Her father won’t talk about being a Timberwolf, a unit of specially trained night fighters that went into combat first and experienced a 300 percent casualty rate. He returns home with thirteen medals, including a Silver Star, and becomes a doctor and well-respected member of the community, but is haunted by his past.
Seeing only his explosive and often dangerous personality, Becky distances herself from the man she wants to love. Yet on the eve of his ninetieth birthday, when Becky looks at the vulnerable man he’s become, something shifts, and she asks about the war. He breaks seventy years of silence, offering an unfiltered account of war without glory and revealing the extent of the trauma he’s endured. She spends the next several years interviewing, researching, and ultimately understanding the demons she inherited.
Because his story is incomplete without hers, and hers is inconceivable without his, Ellis offers both, as well as their year-long aching conversation marked by moments of redeeming grace. With compassionate, unflinching writing, Little Avalanches reminds us that we are profoundly shaped by the secrets we keep and forever changed by the stories we share.
Little Avalanches is a gorgeously written memoir of breathtaking scope that propels readers from the beaches of California in the early ‘70s to the battlefields of World War II.
As a young girl, Becky is forced to hide from phantom Nazis, subjected to dental procedures without pain medication, and torn from her mother again and again. Growing up in the shadow of her father’s PTSD, she wants to know what is wrong but knows not to ask.
Her father won’t talk about being a Timberwolf, a unit of specially trained night fighters that went into combat first and experienced a 300 percent casualty rate. He returns home with thirteen medals, including a Silver Star, and becomes a doctor and well-respected member of the community, but is haunted by his past.
Seeing only his explosive and often dangerous personality, Becky distances herself from the man she wants to love. Yet on the eve of his ninetieth birthday, when Becky looks at the vulnerable man he’s become, something shifts, and she asks about the war. He breaks seventy years of silence, offering an unfiltered account of war without glory and revealing the extent of the trauma he’s endured. She spends the next several years interviewing, researching, and ultimately understanding the demons she inherited.
Because his story is incomplete without hers, and hers is inconceivable without his, Ellis offers both, as well as their year-long aching conversation marked by moments of redeeming grace. With compassionate, unflinching writing, Little Avalanches reminds us that we are profoundly shaped by the secrets we keep and forever changed by the stories we share.
236 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 12, 2024
12 people are currently reading
6594 people want to read
About the author
Becky Ellis
1 book31 followersBecky Ellis is a Timberwolf Pup. The daughter of a highly decorated World War II combat sergeant, she is a veteran of a war fought at home. She is the award winning author of the memoir Little Avalanches, which received the 2024 Rubery Book Award for Best Nonfiction Book of the Year. Her writing has appeared in Psychology Today, Northwest Review, The Ethel, Best Small Fictions, and The Rudder. She teaches writing in Portland, Oregon, where she lives, plays, and has raised three daughters. You can find more about her at beckyellis.net.
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February 25, 2024
Little Avalanches: A Daughter’s Memoir – Becky Ellis – (2024)
This is a heartfelt account of generational trauma that is narrated in three parts, featuring the novel-like story form, rather than the typical memoir/autobiographical format. Ms. Ellis begins her story in Modesto, California with her parents’ separation and subsequent divorce. The police were called as her father remained outside the family home belligerent and demanding admission. Her father was a decorated combat veteran and physician (at an unnamed hospital), her mother a (registered?) nurse. Ms. Ellis recalled being shuttled back and forth (by air) with her brother Martin between her parent’s households. Her father (and third wife) forced her against her will, to participate in boating, extreme water sports, and an uncomfortable/traumatizing visit to a nude beach. By this time, Ms. Ellis had another half-sister, Shena, who she would always remain in contact with. The other five half-siblings were not mentioned, her father eventually married four times.
In Part II, Ms. Ellis provides readers with a detailed account of her father’s WWII military service that took place on the battlegrounds of Holland, Belgium, and Germany: A SSgt 1st Battalion, Company C, 415th Infantry Regiment, 104th Division Timberwolf.
By the time, Ms. Ellis was in college she had sought a better understanding of her father’s actions and abusive conduct. Through the University of California, Berkley, she participated in a program that offered studies abroad, and toured the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial, ignoring her father’s command to stay away from Germany while in Europe.
In Part III, Ms. Ellis’ father was 89 years old, and she was a married mother of three daughters, working in the publishing/literary industry, and living in Portland, Oregon. When her father visited, she seemed determined to record her father’s military history. With the Military Code of Silence, it is fully understandable why many veterans choose not to disclose their experience with the sheer terror, horror, and tragedy of war. The “shell shock” that medical professionals noted following WW II eventually became PTSD that impacted (unknown numbers) of the lives of our military veterans. The book would have been more appealing if readers could have learned more about her father’s education, medical career, retirement, and his other families/children etc. With thanks to Regalo Press via NetGalley for the DDC for the purpose of review. - 3*GOOD
This is a heartfelt account of generational trauma that is narrated in three parts, featuring the novel-like story form, rather than the typical memoir/autobiographical format. Ms. Ellis begins her story in Modesto, California with her parents’ separation and subsequent divorce. The police were called as her father remained outside the family home belligerent and demanding admission. Her father was a decorated combat veteran and physician (at an unnamed hospital), her mother a (registered?) nurse. Ms. Ellis recalled being shuttled back and forth (by air) with her brother Martin between her parent’s households. Her father (and third wife) forced her against her will, to participate in boating, extreme water sports, and an uncomfortable/traumatizing visit to a nude beach. By this time, Ms. Ellis had another half-sister, Shena, who she would always remain in contact with. The other five half-siblings were not mentioned, her father eventually married four times.
In Part II, Ms. Ellis provides readers with a detailed account of her father’s WWII military service that took place on the battlegrounds of Holland, Belgium, and Germany: A SSgt 1st Battalion, Company C, 415th Infantry Regiment, 104th Division Timberwolf.
By the time, Ms. Ellis was in college she had sought a better understanding of her father’s actions and abusive conduct. Through the University of California, Berkley, she participated in a program that offered studies abroad, and toured the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial, ignoring her father’s command to stay away from Germany while in Europe.
In Part III, Ms. Ellis’ father was 89 years old, and she was a married mother of three daughters, working in the publishing/literary industry, and living in Portland, Oregon. When her father visited, she seemed determined to record her father’s military history. With the Military Code of Silence, it is fully understandable why many veterans choose not to disclose their experience with the sheer terror, horror, and tragedy of war. The “shell shock” that medical professionals noted following WW II eventually became PTSD that impacted (unknown numbers) of the lives of our military veterans. The book would have been more appealing if readers could have learned more about her father’s education, medical career, retirement, and his other families/children etc. With thanks to Regalo Press via NetGalley for the DDC for the purpose of review. - 3*GOOD
January 29, 2024
Few people get to know the version of their parents that wore footie pajamas and had only baby teeth. Even fewer with such vivid detail as I have gotten to read in my mother’s memoir.
Intentional and heartfelt, my mother’s voice in Little Avalanches is an echo of her voice in real life. The care she takes in describing younger versions of each beloved family member is the same care she took in raising me - tender and hopeful, observant and forgiving. I could not be more grateful to read how my mother experienced childhood and how my grandfather experienced combat and fatherhood, but also for the opportunity to learn from the example they both set for wholehearted acceptance.
My mother’s courage to start hard conversations is nothing short of inspirational. As was my grandfather’s strength to trust his daughter with his darkest, most haunting memories. Together they show how this vulnerability fosters deeper understanding, compassion, connection, and ultimately, truer belonging, with the people we hold dearest.
Little Avalanches is a treasure I will share with my children someday, as both a family history, and a guide for nurturing foundational relationships. My mother’s persistence in learning my grandfather’s story opened a floodgate that made him share with others… and I’m sure is one of the reasons I had the honor of knowing and loving him as well as I did during his final years. Complicated, brilliant, stoic, I miss him everyday, and am beyond grateful to hear his voice anytime I need to by reading my mother’s pages. Every “Sarge” rings just as I remember.
Intentional and heartfelt, my mother’s voice in Little Avalanches is an echo of her voice in real life. The care she takes in describing younger versions of each beloved family member is the same care she took in raising me - tender and hopeful, observant and forgiving. I could not be more grateful to read how my mother experienced childhood and how my grandfather experienced combat and fatherhood, but also for the opportunity to learn from the example they both set for wholehearted acceptance.
My mother’s courage to start hard conversations is nothing short of inspirational. As was my grandfather’s strength to trust his daughter with his darkest, most haunting memories. Together they show how this vulnerability fosters deeper understanding, compassion, connection, and ultimately, truer belonging, with the people we hold dearest.
Little Avalanches is a treasure I will share with my children someday, as both a family history, and a guide for nurturing foundational relationships. My mother’s persistence in learning my grandfather’s story opened a floodgate that made him share with others… and I’m sure is one of the reasons I had the honor of knowing and loving him as well as I did during his final years. Complicated, brilliant, stoic, I miss him everyday, and am beyond grateful to hear his voice anytime I need to by reading my mother’s pages. Every “Sarge” rings just as I remember.
February 14, 2024
What a gift this book is! Ellis, through her amazing storytelling style and descriptive narrative, gives a voice to the so-called Silent Generation in this gripping story of trauma and, ultimately, reconciliation of the events that took place. Her poetic descriptions captivate, whether illustrating something as simple as a tuna sandwich or as complex as a traumatic war scene which immediately connects with the reader. This made for an easy read and stirs the feels like I was right there in the story. As some might be, this is not a clean and polished memoir tied up with a neat bow (boring!), but an insightful look at a lifetime of experiences with a final glimpse at redemption in hopes that a generational trauma ends with her in these pages. Ellis has a true gift for observation, storytelling, and a descriptive style of prose that makes this volume read like a poem. I truly could not put this down. I now feel even more thankful, and at the same time saddened, for the veterans in my life and the impacts they have had on our country and its families.
March 9, 2024
Fantastic read, highly recommended! Reading “Little Avalanches” by Becky Ellis felt like holding up a mirror to my own life. As someone who grew up in the shadow of a father’s PTSD from his time as a Marine in Vietnam, the exploration of her relationship with her father, a World War II Timberwolf haunted by his past, resonated deeply with me. Her writing is not just beautiful; it’s a beacon for those of us navigating the complex emotions tied to loving someone irrevocably changed by war.
I recommend this book wholeheartedly, not just to those with a military loved one but to anyone seeking insight into the lasting impact of trauma and the healing power of empathy and connection. Becky Ellis’s journey offers a rare blend of personal reflection and universal truths, making “Little Avalanches” an essential read for understanding the echoes of war across generations.
I recommend this book wholeheartedly, not just to those with a military loved one but to anyone seeking insight into the lasting impact of trauma and the healing power of empathy and connection. Becky Ellis’s journey offers a rare blend of personal reflection and universal truths, making “Little Avalanches” an essential read for understanding the echoes of war across generations.
March 9, 2024
This is a must read for the families of the current generation of warriors. It is a roadmap for healing. It took Lou seventy years to tell his story, to start to heal. We call him and the countless young men and women, the greatest generation, but from Lou’s account you can tell he felt his experience was not an accomplishment but just survival. What would his life have been after the war, had he been able to share his story, if not with his family, then with other veterans. Thank you, Becky, for being persistent enough to gather this story, to push Lou to share it with you. He told you, and I believe him, you were the only one with whom he shared this. I cannot imagine the peace you gave him by listening. Thank you.
March 14, 2024
This book reminded me so much of THE GLASS CASTLE, but with a bit more emotional distance from the author. This is the author’s attempt to understand her father’s flawed parenting choices as a result of WWII combat. The first part of the book depicts him as a womanizing asshole who constantly puts his kids in harm’s way, and that’s only when he bothers to pay more attention to them than his string of girlfriends. In the second portion, the author exposes her dad’s brutal experiences in combat. Part II is such a shock to the system after the ease of Part I. It’s hard to stomach for a reason. She’s trying to show us why her dad was the way he was. This is such a powerful memoir, probably the last of its kind as more and more people in WWII die off. It’s a memoir a lifetime in the making. Becky Ellis is wildly talented, and she writes nonfiction like a compelling work of fiction. This is a tough read but I’m so glad I received an advanced copy.
March 7, 2024
This isn't the type of book I would typically choose to read, but when my wife couldn't stop talking about how she liked it I decided to pick it up and I'm glad I did. I learned so much about what a soldier's life was like in WWII from the second part of the book, written in her father's words. It gave me a new appreciation for what those men went through. It goes beyond what I've seen in movies. Writing reviews isn't my forte but the fact that I was moved enough by the story and the skill of the writer says a lot about how much I liked this book. Give it a read, you won't regret it!
March 9, 2024
This is beautifully written! I really enjoyed how the book is separated into three parts; the author's memories as a child, the father's memories from the war, and their reconciliation as adults. Both father and daughter were brave enough to face each other with their deep emotional wounds and find a peace that comes with understanding. I love how sharing their story helped them both heal.
February 25, 2024
"Little Avalanches" is a truly unique story and told in a beautiful and compelling style. My heart broke for Becky Ellis and her mother as they endured the abuse of her father. But then, with great deftness, Ellis was able to flip the narrative so that I became equally sympathetic to her father as the horrors of his war experience unfolded. I think it takes a real talent to pull the reader into the story and create such strong emotional reactions to the characters.
There are probably millions of families with similar dynamics of veterans grappling to cope after war, but this is the first time I've read such a personal account of how it can impact the families. I highly recommend!
There are probably millions of families with similar dynamics of veterans grappling to cope after war, but this is the first time I've read such a personal account of how it can impact the families. I highly recommend!
March 11, 2024
If you’ve ever been a child confused by your parents’ actions, Little Avalanches is for you. If you are the child of someone with PTSD, this book is for you. And if you are (or know) a veteran of the military, this book is for you. Little Avalanches is a close-in account of growing up with parents in a painful divorce, the complex feelings of loss and division, the shuffling back and forth between houses. It is also a detailed account of being raised by an unpredictable father with PTSD. The story begins with Ellis at five years old and ends when she is an adult with children of her own. In Ellis’ prose, I experienced every moment of every scene. This is why I gobbled it up in one day. P.S. The ending is incredibly satisfying and filled with compassion, humanity and hope.
March 6, 2024
This memoir made me start thanking not only veterans but the wives and children of veterans, too. Ellis' unflinching account of the unseen costs of WW2 translates to today's families of GWOT veterans. Read this book to understand veterans and their families. Give this book so they can be seen.
March 13, 2024
I'm so excited for this to come out next week!
February 14, 2024
As a lover of WW2 history and the granddaughter of a WW2 veteran, I was extremely intrigued by this biographical account of a veteran and the ramifications of his experience on his future family. The book leads off with a surreal tale of a 1970s childhood of a broken home, alcoholism, drugs, and heartache. Ellis’s storytelling launches right into her experiences of disappointment and fear. I was brought to tears by several of the incidents of trauma instigated by her father’s neglect, lack of compassion, and just downright cruelty. How could a father, who so clearly wanted to be with his children, treat his children with such disdain? This story then propels you into Part 2, which answers that question. Atrocities experienced by her father on the battlefields of Europe lend a humanity to his future traumatic treatment of his children. His torment also led me to tears, even when I didn’t want to feel his pain. This book expertly shows you how the horrors of war affect many generations, but also how truthful, sympathetic conversations can lead to understanding, and even a bit of healing. Ellis writes with such beautiful detail that I felt I was actually a part of her family.
February 14, 2024
What a gem. I became immediately engaged from the beginning and finished this excellent memoir in one sitting. This book combines the best of two of my favorite, yet quite divergent authors, Ann Patchett and Stephen E Ambrose. I have read several books about World War II, but have not been exposed to any that cover PTSD suffered by our heroes and thus their families. Bravo Becky Ellis, thank you so much for sharing your story. Highly recommend, 5 enthusiastic Stars!
February 1, 2024
At the beginning of the book, in a series of vivid vignettes, the author describes heartbreaking moments from her childhood. Along with her older brother, she bounced back and forth between her mother and father in Northern California. Your blood will boil at her father's abusive behavior, which will remind some readers of Tara Westover's superb "Educated." Then you will encounter mid-story her father's 172-day World War II diary detailing his night-fighting Timberwolves' relentless march from Utah Beach through Holland and Belgium into Germany in late 1944 and early 1945 to win the war. You will marvel at the extraordinary sacrifices and heroism of the "greatest generation." In the final part of the book, the author begins to understand and acknowledge the trauma endured by her father, and the resulting intergenerational trauma visited upon her. The author's style throughout is crisp and propulsively readable. The book succeeds as both a fascinating family drama and an absorbing wartime history.
March 3, 2024
I really love the cover of this book, and it is the first thing that attracted me to the book. The figures we see the lower halves of represent Becky, the author of the book and her father. Becky is standing on her father’s boots, on her own tip toes in her beloved “mary jane” shoes trying to reach her father probably to give him a kiss. The cover really fits the concept of the book so well, Becky always trying desperately to reach her father. I love the cover even more after having read the book and making this comparison.
The book is told in three parts. Part One is the story of Becky’s younger years. Becky’s parents are no longer together. Her mother Anne is a hardworking nurse and basically single parent to Becky and her older brother Martin. At the start of the book Martin is 6years old and Beky is just 5 years old. The book begins with their father turning up at the house again, the former family home Becky and her mum & brother finally moved back into when their father agreed to move out. Becky’s father turns up whenever he wants to the former family home, banging on the door depending to be let into the home. Anne ushers the children into the bathroom, telling them to get into the tub to hide. However, Becky’s father gets into the house, finds them and actually smiles at them as if it’s perfectly normal to be sat, hiding in the bath tub with your clothes on. When the police arrive, their mum declines the offer to press charges knowing it would go on her ex-husbands record and he is a well-respected Doctor/Surgeon. There’s also an upcoming court date as their father has filed for full custody saying their mother is an unfit parent! The children are going to speak to the judge regarding the way their father treats them when he has them at his home. The way they have to sleep on the floor, and he doesn’t feed them until after 10pm in the evening, that theirs no routine, he doesn’t even remind them to brush their teeth or haor and he drinks like a fish too! On the day of the court hearing their mum reminds them to tell the judge about their dad’s girlfriend, Judy who is half his age, and brings drugs to the house, and continually, openly smokes pot!
Becky knows its an important special day when she receives a brand new pair of black shiny mary jane shoes that she has been wishing for, for such a long time, her old shoes are so worn out and shabby looking now. Martin has to wear his smart corduroy trousers, there his only pair without holes. Anne tries her best for her kids but there’s never much money around for new clothes etc. The fact her ex-husband Louis is constantly taking her to court, accusing her of being a bad mother doesn’t help either. Becky is absolutely besotted with her new shoes but sadly the shine is literally taken off them when she accidentally scrapes one of them when going over to hug her dad in the courtroom. It’s sad that Martin and Becky are in the middle and are trying so hard wanting to please both parents whilst favouring neither in front of the other. Becky and Martin also like their dad’s girlfriend Judy too, she calls them by nicknames, Beck-a-boo & Motor Scooter. Judy makes visiting fun. It’s not long until Judy is pregnant and baby Shena arrives. When Judy and their father split up they actually miss her and the funs they had with her.
When the new girlfriend comes along and they visit and have to sleep on the floor, they try to comfort Shena who is upset. They make her a bed on the sofa, unfortunately she messes herself in the night and Lucy is livid about her posh sofa and blames Matin and Becky for not making Shena sleep on the floor with them. Martin & Becky try to watch out for Shena when Lucy lets situations get out of control by allowing her to drink alcohol. Louis, their father comes across as a strange man, on one hand he has no routine for the children, no set meal times or bedtimes. Then on the other when its their birthday he has a tradition that they have to ski behind his boat! Something Becky really doesn’t want to do, but her father is determined she will do, even if it takes him an expensive full tank of fuel for her to do. It’s a kind of weird, tough love. When they return home to their mother Anne with their stories and on one occasion Martin being so seriously sunburnt, he can hardly bend his legs there isn’t much she can do except deal with the sunburn!
Part Two is the story of Louis, the Timberwolf, the night fighter leading men on literal suicide missions against the Nazis. The way he went days without food. Then being told he had done enough and could go home, only for it to be changed at the last minute and being sent further into enemy territory to fight again.
This section is set out kind of like a diary or journal of each day, each military operation he undertook. The men he lost in battle. How they couldn’t even trust civilians, as if they turned their backs a civilian may shoot them too! The constant poor, wet, muddy, cold conditions they had to live in.
Part Three is sort of the breakthrough between Becky and her dad. Becky is older, now married herself with kids. Her dad Louis visits her twice a year, for a week in March and then again for a week in October. Louis refers to her Mercedes car as a Nazis mobile, even all these years after the war he is verbal about his dislike for the Nazis or krauts as he also refers to them as. He doesn’t like them or anything they make, including her Mercedes.
It's in this section of the book that we learn about a younger Louis and his parents, Louis finally begins to open up to Becky. Louis has been married four times, has eight children and has never explained anything about himself or his time as a Timberwolf to any of them. It’s during a visit when Louis is 89years old that he sits down and asks Becky if there are any issues between them that she wants to talk about. Becky takes the opportunity and says she wants to talk about the war. They then start talking, Louis reveals how he had signed up for the air force, he loved flying. He had co-piloted for his mother on numerous occasions. His mother flew her plane all over going to different suffrage movement meetings. She spoke to women about having minds of their own and urged them to have their own careers. Unfortunately for Louis, during his medical a problem was found that had been caused by multiple ear infections. His dream of being a pilot in the Air Force were over. However, because he had signed papers he “belonged to the army” and they placed him in the ground forces. His mother tried to get her influential friends to help out to get him out, but they couldn’t help. Even after all Louis went through in the army, he didn’t expect such a poor reception when he returned home. His parents were disappointed, it was almost as if his mother preferred the social standing she would get if he had died in service than him surviving and coming home. His younger brother Bob had been terribly injured and his parents somehow blamed him for not protecting him!! Louis’s father called both his sons “bums” as they should have gone to college, he actually said Only bums join the ground forces of the army!!
It's so sad to think about all Louis had seen in the army, all his colleagues that were lost, all the suffering, to then come home and be almost snubbed by your own family and seeing them disappointed in him. He was no doubt suffering flashbacks and PTSD. It does explain some of his actions with his own children. The way he insisted they both know how to handle a gun from a very young age. When Becky went to the dentist he refused drugs, saying she was tough and didn’t need them.
I honestly really loved this book, it is certainly not a light hearted read but a thought provoking, moving, heart wrenching, heart breaking yet engrossing, unputdownable tale of a relationship between father and daughter. It is the story of a man that survived battle upon battle, carried out hopeless missions and succeeded, he survived the war and was recognised for his bravery and work as a Timberwolf, but he never really ever came home, he never really recovered from what he had seen, done and had to live through.
Summing up this book tells us the reader how all that Timberwolf, Louis saw, did and went through affected him and went on to then affect his wives, partners and children. I adore how Becky persisted with her father and he finally opened up to her. Finally she had an explanation for some of her father’s actions and traits. It is an amazing read that I highly recommend reading.
The book is told in three parts. Part One is the story of Becky’s younger years. Becky’s parents are no longer together. Her mother Anne is a hardworking nurse and basically single parent to Becky and her older brother Martin. At the start of the book Martin is 6years old and Beky is just 5 years old. The book begins with their father turning up at the house again, the former family home Becky and her mum & brother finally moved back into when their father agreed to move out. Becky’s father turns up whenever he wants to the former family home, banging on the door depending to be let into the home. Anne ushers the children into the bathroom, telling them to get into the tub to hide. However, Becky’s father gets into the house, finds them and actually smiles at them as if it’s perfectly normal to be sat, hiding in the bath tub with your clothes on. When the police arrive, their mum declines the offer to press charges knowing it would go on her ex-husbands record and he is a well-respected Doctor/Surgeon. There’s also an upcoming court date as their father has filed for full custody saying their mother is an unfit parent! The children are going to speak to the judge regarding the way their father treats them when he has them at his home. The way they have to sleep on the floor, and he doesn’t feed them until after 10pm in the evening, that theirs no routine, he doesn’t even remind them to brush their teeth or haor and he drinks like a fish too! On the day of the court hearing their mum reminds them to tell the judge about their dad’s girlfriend, Judy who is half his age, and brings drugs to the house, and continually, openly smokes pot!
Becky knows its an important special day when she receives a brand new pair of black shiny mary jane shoes that she has been wishing for, for such a long time, her old shoes are so worn out and shabby looking now. Martin has to wear his smart corduroy trousers, there his only pair without holes. Anne tries her best for her kids but there’s never much money around for new clothes etc. The fact her ex-husband Louis is constantly taking her to court, accusing her of being a bad mother doesn’t help either. Becky is absolutely besotted with her new shoes but sadly the shine is literally taken off them when she accidentally scrapes one of them when going over to hug her dad in the courtroom. It’s sad that Martin and Becky are in the middle and are trying so hard wanting to please both parents whilst favouring neither in front of the other. Becky and Martin also like their dad’s girlfriend Judy too, she calls them by nicknames, Beck-a-boo & Motor Scooter. Judy makes visiting fun. It’s not long until Judy is pregnant and baby Shena arrives. When Judy and their father split up they actually miss her and the funs they had with her.
When the new girlfriend comes along and they visit and have to sleep on the floor, they try to comfort Shena who is upset. They make her a bed on the sofa, unfortunately she messes herself in the night and Lucy is livid about her posh sofa and blames Matin and Becky for not making Shena sleep on the floor with them. Martin & Becky try to watch out for Shena when Lucy lets situations get out of control by allowing her to drink alcohol. Louis, their father comes across as a strange man, on one hand he has no routine for the children, no set meal times or bedtimes. Then on the other when its their birthday he has a tradition that they have to ski behind his boat! Something Becky really doesn’t want to do, but her father is determined she will do, even if it takes him an expensive full tank of fuel for her to do. It’s a kind of weird, tough love. When they return home to their mother Anne with their stories and on one occasion Martin being so seriously sunburnt, he can hardly bend his legs there isn’t much she can do except deal with the sunburn!
Part Two is the story of Louis, the Timberwolf, the night fighter leading men on literal suicide missions against the Nazis. The way he went days without food. Then being told he had done enough and could go home, only for it to be changed at the last minute and being sent further into enemy territory to fight again.
This section is set out kind of like a diary or journal of each day, each military operation he undertook. The men he lost in battle. How they couldn’t even trust civilians, as if they turned their backs a civilian may shoot them too! The constant poor, wet, muddy, cold conditions they had to live in.
Part Three is sort of the breakthrough between Becky and her dad. Becky is older, now married herself with kids. Her dad Louis visits her twice a year, for a week in March and then again for a week in October. Louis refers to her Mercedes car as a Nazis mobile, even all these years after the war he is verbal about his dislike for the Nazis or krauts as he also refers to them as. He doesn’t like them or anything they make, including her Mercedes.
It's in this section of the book that we learn about a younger Louis and his parents, Louis finally begins to open up to Becky. Louis has been married four times, has eight children and has never explained anything about himself or his time as a Timberwolf to any of them. It’s during a visit when Louis is 89years old that he sits down and asks Becky if there are any issues between them that she wants to talk about. Becky takes the opportunity and says she wants to talk about the war. They then start talking, Louis reveals how he had signed up for the air force, he loved flying. He had co-piloted for his mother on numerous occasions. His mother flew her plane all over going to different suffrage movement meetings. She spoke to women about having minds of their own and urged them to have their own careers. Unfortunately for Louis, during his medical a problem was found that had been caused by multiple ear infections. His dream of being a pilot in the Air Force were over. However, because he had signed papers he “belonged to the army” and they placed him in the ground forces. His mother tried to get her influential friends to help out to get him out, but they couldn’t help. Even after all Louis went through in the army, he didn’t expect such a poor reception when he returned home. His parents were disappointed, it was almost as if his mother preferred the social standing she would get if he had died in service than him surviving and coming home. His younger brother Bob had been terribly injured and his parents somehow blamed him for not protecting him!! Louis’s father called both his sons “bums” as they should have gone to college, he actually said Only bums join the ground forces of the army!!
It's so sad to think about all Louis had seen in the army, all his colleagues that were lost, all the suffering, to then come home and be almost snubbed by your own family and seeing them disappointed in him. He was no doubt suffering flashbacks and PTSD. It does explain some of his actions with his own children. The way he insisted they both know how to handle a gun from a very young age. When Becky went to the dentist he refused drugs, saying she was tough and didn’t need them.
I honestly really loved this book, it is certainly not a light hearted read but a thought provoking, moving, heart wrenching, heart breaking yet engrossing, unputdownable tale of a relationship between father and daughter. It is the story of a man that survived battle upon battle, carried out hopeless missions and succeeded, he survived the war and was recognised for his bravery and work as a Timberwolf, but he never really ever came home, he never really recovered from what he had seen, done and had to live through.
Summing up this book tells us the reader how all that Timberwolf, Louis saw, did and went through affected him and went on to then affect his wives, partners and children. I adore how Becky persisted with her father and he finally opened up to her. Finally she had an explanation for some of her father’s actions and traits. It is an amazing read that I highly recommend reading.
March 6, 2024
If I'm being honest, I didn't expect to resonate with the story as much as I did. I figured it would be like peering into someone else's very different life: interesting but not relatable. I didn't expect it to bring up so many questions about my own family and I am always pleasantly surprised when a story sticks with me and makes me think.
So what was so great about this book?
First, there's the writing. Ellis is a beautiful writer. Her scenes have a confident ease to them. Her turns of phrase are stunning.
What struck me most though, was that I never once got the sense that the author was playing the victim. (This is a pet peeve of mine when it comes to memoirs and one that, in my opinion, is all too common these days.) Instead, Ellis was a 'just god' on the page. By that, I mean she expressed her feelings in a way that made me, as the reader feel like she's done a healthy amount of self-work. As someone who's tried her hand at writing memoir, I think that's an impressive feat.
So what was so great about this book?
First, there's the writing. Ellis is a beautiful writer. Her scenes have a confident ease to them. Her turns of phrase are stunning.
What struck me most though, was that I never once got the sense that the author was playing the victim. (This is a pet peeve of mine when it comes to memoirs and one that, in my opinion, is all too common these days.) Instead, Ellis was a 'just god' on the page. By that, I mean she expressed her feelings in a way that made me, as the reader feel like she's done a healthy amount of self-work. As someone who's tried her hand at writing memoir, I think that's an impressive feat.
March 13, 2024
I felt very overwhelmed by the emotions that the story evoked. In the first part of the book, the themes centered around Becky’s father behaving as a bully and a brute, and her acquiescing to his expectations at the expense of her own sense of self, in order to dutifully express love and to hopefully be loved by him. I felt pain every time she sacrificed herself to meet his expectations, and I felt pain every time she tried to assert herself and was subsequently crushed by his insensitivity. I breathed a sigh of relief when she finally reached the age of maturity and would not be forced to visit him any longer. I thought, “Now, she is free at last!” But, in Part II, I became overwhelmed by anguish as I read his account of his experiences in World War II in France, Holland, and Germany. This is not the first time I read first-hand accounts of battles in Normandy. I recently discovered that my uncle, who was taken to England on the Kindertransport, later enlisted in the British army and was accepted into the top-secret X Troop, which was made up primarily of Jewish refugees from Europe. I have read a few books about X Troop, which described the battles they fought in Normandy. The accounts are similar to Rebecca’s father’s descriptions. Young men, thrust into harrowing situations, impossible odds, impossible conditions for survival, incredible bravery and loyalty, unwavering discipline, trained to act like robotic killing machines, where hesitation or trusting a seemingly innocent person might mean certain death. How a person can remain sane after experiencing all of that, I do not know. My heart softened towards Becky’s father as I realized that he acted dutifully and heroically, by sacrificing himself over and over again, and that he remained traumatized for the rest of his life. And, lastly, I felt outrage, when I read how he and other survivors of that Armageddon were treated so shabbily by the U.S. military.
Little Avalanches by Becky Ellis explores the relationship between a daughter and her father. It is not a complicated one; the daughter tries to live up to her father’s expectations in spite of her personal misgivings about whatever reckless situation she finds herself in during custodial visits. As she matures, she realizes that it is unfair to place her and her siblings in these situations, but lacks the means to extricate herself. She tries to get support from her mother, who is simply beaten down by the never ending bullying of her ex-husband. The author skillfully draws the reader into the constant contractions and expansions of the feelings of all involved; some get to express their feelings and others just stuff them down. Ms. Ellis has crafted a thought-provoking work by her courageous scrutiny of her experiences. Little Avalanches is a compelling read that causes the reader to consider that there are two sides to every story, and that perhaps it’s best to dig deeper before making judgments.
Little Avalanches by Becky Ellis explores the relationship between a daughter and her father. It is not a complicated one; the daughter tries to live up to her father’s expectations in spite of her personal misgivings about whatever reckless situation she finds herself in during custodial visits. As she matures, she realizes that it is unfair to place her and her siblings in these situations, but lacks the means to extricate herself. She tries to get support from her mother, who is simply beaten down by the never ending bullying of her ex-husband. The author skillfully draws the reader into the constant contractions and expansions of the feelings of all involved; some get to express their feelings and others just stuff them down. Ms. Ellis has crafted a thought-provoking work by her courageous scrutiny of her experiences. Little Avalanches is a compelling read that causes the reader to consider that there are two sides to every story, and that perhaps it’s best to dig deeper before making judgments.
February 10, 2024
Becky Ellis’ memoir, “Little Avalanches,” with its account of her family’s struggle with the cold and eruptive behavior of her father, Louis, after World War II, put me in mind of my own father, who, like Louis and 16 million of their fellows, donned uniform to fight the Axis machine. Nowhere near so traumatic as Louis’ experience, though, my father’s experience (so far as I know), but the fact that he, like Louis, served in the European Theater, as did my mother, an Army nurse, made me eager to read Ellis’ book, which details in its second part the war’s carnage experienced on both sides – on the U.S. side, for instance, there’s the U.S. soldier who's tied to a barn by German soldiers who then set the barn afire, and on the German side, there’s the German soldier Louis comes upon who’s still alive but with only his head, shoulder, arm and maybe half his chest remaining. Horrible, though, as such episodes are, and there are many recounted through the book’s second section, they're told largely in one-or-two paragraph snippets, with no chance to get to know any of the people involved – with the burned soldier, for instance, I had to page back to see if he’d even been mentioned before. Less dramatic, to be sure, but more compelling for me, with their fuller and richer development, are the accounts in the book’s first part of Becky’s experiences with her father after the war – how, for instance, she and her brother had to hide in a bathtub as he came storming around one day, in defiance of a divorce decree, or how the two children are dragged to court custody hearings time and again, or how a day at the beach with her father discomforted Becky when his current romantic interest, along with others, were topless or in other stages of undress, and she couldn’t seem later to convey to her mother how uncomfortable it made her feel. More compelling for me, as I say, those episodes, than Louis’ battlefield experiences, which, frankly, for all their horror, got to be somewhat mind-numbing after a time. Still, either with the battlefield depictions or the scenes afterward of the havoc that Louis caused his family, the book makes for compelling reading and essential oral history at a time when an estimated 131 World War II veterans are dying each day.
February 10, 2024
Little Avalanches by Becky Ellis was an excruciating read that I couldn’t put down. I was supposed to be babysitting the day I started this book but instead, I ignored the ten year old in my care to witness on the page how another childminder traumatized her subjects. Luckily, my charge barely noticed my distraction as she found my make-up and wigs.
Becky’s book dives deep into the heart and psyche of the child of divorce. It shows how parents can wound by neglect and willingly injure to prove a point or because they believe in ‘love’.
Midway through the book, Lou, Ellis’ father and Lucy, his icy bride become a villainous duo. Just when I’m extrapolating all the unwritten travesties Ellis’ younger sister suffers and I am filled with outrage, I’m dumped in Europe with Lou as a young soldier recounting the daily horrors of Europe in 1944.
It’s a time traveling tour de force. I want to empathize with Lou, and I do with the young man trying to keep himself and peers safe. I am saddened by the friendless man who keeps his affections in check on the battlefield. But, still, I hate him as I recall what he does to his children. When I learn a shaky rationale for his behavior I appreciate the knowledge, but just because someone has a reason doesn’t make it a good reason.
Read this book! If I made it sound depressing, it’s not. It emphasizes resilience and reflection while telling a mighty fine story
Becky’s book dives deep into the heart and psyche of the child of divorce. It shows how parents can wound by neglect and willingly injure to prove a point or because they believe in ‘love’.
Midway through the book, Lou, Ellis’ father and Lucy, his icy bride become a villainous duo. Just when I’m extrapolating all the unwritten travesties Ellis’ younger sister suffers and I am filled with outrage, I’m dumped in Europe with Lou as a young soldier recounting the daily horrors of Europe in 1944.
It’s a time traveling tour de force. I want to empathize with Lou, and I do with the young man trying to keep himself and peers safe. I am saddened by the friendless man who keeps his affections in check on the battlefield. But, still, I hate him as I recall what he does to his children. When I learn a shaky rationale for his behavior I appreciate the knowledge, but just because someone has a reason doesn’t make it a good reason.
Read this book! If I made it sound depressing, it’s not. It emphasizes resilience and reflection while telling a mighty fine story
April 10, 2025
Thank you Becky Ellis for sharing your story.
There were so many moments I was holding my breath- the car ride to the beach, NYE on the boat, when your dad taught you to water ski, shoot a rifle; all of these moments I was hoping none of you got hurt or worse….
You tried very hard to separate yourself from him and his harsh/abusive parenting ways. The one time you finally had the courage to stand up to him, he punished your brother Martin by not showing up for his custody weekend. You knew then that this was the way it was going to be- for a very long time.
In my copy of your book, you wrote, “Start a conversation”. It’s evident that your father was ready to share what happened to him on the battlefields of Germany.
Had he never asked you, “Is there anything we need to clear up?”You probably wouldn’t know what actually transpired during those One Hundred and Seventy-Two Days. That experience defined him as a husband and father. The conversations aren’t always easy, but in the end we are truly grateful they are shared and recorded.
Thank you again for sharing your life story.
There were so many moments I was holding my breath- the car ride to the beach, NYE on the boat, when your dad taught you to water ski, shoot a rifle; all of these moments I was hoping none of you got hurt or worse….
You tried very hard to separate yourself from him and his harsh/abusive parenting ways. The one time you finally had the courage to stand up to him, he punished your brother Martin by not showing up for his custody weekend. You knew then that this was the way it was going to be- for a very long time.
In my copy of your book, you wrote, “Start a conversation”. It’s evident that your father was ready to share what happened to him on the battlefields of Germany.
Had he never asked you, “Is there anything we need to clear up?”You probably wouldn’t know what actually transpired during those One Hundred and Seventy-Two Days. That experience defined him as a husband and father. The conversations aren’t always easy, but in the end we are truly grateful they are shared and recorded.
Thank you again for sharing your life story.
March 8, 2024
Little Avalanches took me on a powerful and important emotional journey through the many lives that suffer from the traumatic scarring of soldiers returning from war, in this case WWII. And it is also a story of love and the fragile path to rebuilding what is broken. Compelling and tender, Ellis pulls us into the confusion and personal pain she and her siblings experienced as children living with the demons and emotional turmoil of their father’s undiagnosed PTSD and to her bearing bewildered witness to the suffering of her mother and the other women in his life unable to shield their children. As she ultimately learns her father’s story, we realize that our hearts are broken for everyone involved. This story is even more poignant and timely as we realize that it is destined to be relived with the horror of the current wars taking place across every continent. While every family’s story will be different, there are universal hard truths that we as family, friends and community must face and be ready to address. Thank you for opening the door and sharing your family’s story.
March 12, 2024
A Captivating Read!
A deeply moving, emotional account of young Becky Ellis’ struggle to love and understand her father, a highly decorated WWII combat veteran Silver Star recipient with undiagnosed PTSD. After enduring a childhood molded by disfunction and divorce Becky completed her education upon graduating from U.C. Berkeley, marries her college sweetheart, and builds a family of her own. Meanwhile her father, who has never shared with anyone his wartime experiences as a sergeant in the elite night fighting unit of Timberwolves, remains a mystery she yearns to unravel. Compelled to find answers, Becky bravely asks her father, on the cusp of his 90th birthday, to reveal to her his experiences in the war. Thus begins a year long series of deep conversations that result in a diary of detailed descriptions of her father’s 172 days of horrific battlefield experiences. It is through this process of trusting and sharing that father and daughter ultimately transition to a place of peace, love, and understanding. A highly inspirational read you shouldn’t miss!
A deeply moving, emotional account of young Becky Ellis’ struggle to love and understand her father, a highly decorated WWII combat veteran Silver Star recipient with undiagnosed PTSD. After enduring a childhood molded by disfunction and divorce Becky completed her education upon graduating from U.C. Berkeley, marries her college sweetheart, and builds a family of her own. Meanwhile her father, who has never shared with anyone his wartime experiences as a sergeant in the elite night fighting unit of Timberwolves, remains a mystery she yearns to unravel. Compelled to find answers, Becky bravely asks her father, on the cusp of his 90th birthday, to reveal to her his experiences in the war. Thus begins a year long series of deep conversations that result in a diary of detailed descriptions of her father’s 172 days of horrific battlefield experiences. It is through this process of trusting and sharing that father and daughter ultimately transition to a place of peace, love, and understanding. A highly inspirational read you shouldn’t miss!
January 29, 2024
This book is about a daughter’s struggle to understand her father’s parenting and the demons he keeps inside from the war.
Becky grew up in 1970s California and with two young siblings and a loving mother divorced from her dad, the kids were thrown together in uncomfortable situations when visiting their dad. Becky had to withdraw into herself and just try to deal with her dads ever looming shadow from being in the war and band together with her siblings to survive his moods and actions.
This book takes the reader on a journey of Becky’s life from childhood to the present and interrupts the book in the middle for a detailed description of her father’s 172 days fighting in World War II. The cracked love between the two in the timeline starts to mend near the end of his life and understanding becomes clearer of what they both have endured. An amazing memoir and reminder love is sometimes hidden under trauma and just needs to be uncovered!
Becky grew up in 1970s California and with two young siblings and a loving mother divorced from her dad, the kids were thrown together in uncomfortable situations when visiting their dad. Becky had to withdraw into herself and just try to deal with her dads ever looming shadow from being in the war and band together with her siblings to survive his moods and actions.
This book takes the reader on a journey of Becky’s life from childhood to the present and interrupts the book in the middle for a detailed description of her father’s 172 days fighting in World War II. The cracked love between the two in the timeline starts to mend near the end of his life and understanding becomes clearer of what they both have endured. An amazing memoir and reminder love is sometimes hidden under trauma and just needs to be uncovered!
February 14, 2024
I was so moved by this book; I couldn’t put it down. An insightful and relatable story that transports you through time. Beautifully written vignettes introduce you to the plight of young Becky starting in the 1970’s. As the daughter of a WW2 veteran, she strives for her father’s love and acceptance, only to be met with resistance. His tough, sink or swim kind of love pushes his children to fight only a battle he can see.
Becky Ellis seamlessly weaves her childhood past through her father’s days in WW2’s European Theater, bringing us to a remarkable ending. It will leave you to think deeply about your own parents, and the ones that came before them, and how they shaped the person you are today.
Little Avalanches holds two separate stories of a father and a daughter. Paths that cross several times until the end when they collide in a forgiving embrace.
Put this one on top of your book pile. Best book I’ve read this year.
Becky Ellis seamlessly weaves her childhood past through her father’s days in WW2’s European Theater, bringing us to a remarkable ending. It will leave you to think deeply about your own parents, and the ones that came before them, and how they shaped the person you are today.
Little Avalanches holds two separate stories of a father and a daughter. Paths that cross several times until the end when they collide in a forgiving embrace.
Put this one on top of your book pile. Best book I’ve read this year.
December 7, 2024
This is an excellent look into the effects of trauma passed along through the generations like emotional poison. The big message to me is the value of talking about it rather than covering it up under a veil of secrecy or a Pollyanna fairy tale. The author becomes able to stand up to her father and demand accountability until, at last, he opens up to her and finds a degree of healing in doing so.
I’ve seen this theme of secrecy about the past recounted in other books and also within my own family, and it is only by growing up with enough curiosity to pull the curtain down that we learn the truth that can help us better understand our elders and navigate the complex world we are born into. We must then learn to see our elders not as the all-powerful rulers of our destiny, but as the children and adolescents they once were, like us, trying to survive their painful experiences and shield us from the consequences.
I’ve seen this theme of secrecy about the past recounted in other books and also within my own family, and it is only by growing up with enough curiosity to pull the curtain down that we learn the truth that can help us better understand our elders and navigate the complex world we are born into. We must then learn to see our elders not as the all-powerful rulers of our destiny, but as the children and adolescents they once were, like us, trying to survive their painful experiences and shield us from the consequences.
March 12, 2024
This memoir changed me. Even though I don’t know any combat veterans, and I haven’t read many memoirs, the survivors’ truths in Little Avalanches reached straight into my core; this father-daughter memoir made me re-examine my own complicated relationship with my dad. By sharing her experiences, Ellis offers me, as a reader, community and connection — the knowledge that I am not alone in my own survivor’s tale.
Little Avalanches is compelling, emotive, and beautiful. While Ellis doesn’t shy away from examining deep flaws and pain, she writes with such compassion - for strangers, her siblings, her mother, her father, and for herself. Her ability to see her family so clearly and with such love made me consider the possibility of a new fundamental truth: that compassion is a source of strength.
Little Avalanches is compelling, emotive, and beautiful. While Ellis doesn’t shy away from examining deep flaws and pain, she writes with such compassion - for strangers, her siblings, her mother, her father, and for herself. Her ability to see her family so clearly and with such love made me consider the possibility of a new fundamental truth: that compassion is a source of strength.
August 7, 2024
LITTLE AVALANCHES is a gorgeous, gorgeous book. It is the story of a little girl who grows up in a tug-of-war between divorced parents. As an adult, she looks back on her childhood, and wonders why her father, a decorated WWII vet, acted the way he did. Ellis writes her father's story. The reader understands along with Ellis the war that her father survived and continued to live, even when he returned Stateside. I hope you will read this debut memoir. I loved it and want Ellis to write an essay from her mother's point of view. I felt for all the characters in this book and want to spend more time with them.
Memoir is an important genre because it tells us how people live, how they survive, what matters to them. Memoir is a personal history as well as the larger history. I could not have written my last two novels without reading women’s memoirs from WWI and WWII. Memoir is precious.
Memoir is an important genre because it tells us how people live, how they survive, what matters to them. Memoir is a personal history as well as the larger history. I could not have written my last two novels without reading women’s memoirs from WWI and WWII. Memoir is precious.
January 5, 2024
Beautifully written with characters that touched my heart; I devoured this book, finishing it in 2 days. It is inspirational and insightful … one of those books that sticks with you and I found myself thinking about the message of the book long after.
As the author has an open dialogue with her veteran father near the end of his life, she comes to finally understand him and his way of ensuring she survives. With compassion, she comes to see her father in a new light and to better understand not just her father but also herself. It’s a lesson in learning the skills of opening and heartfelt listening, skills the world needs more of these days. It’s a book everyone should read and share with their family.
As the author has an open dialogue with her veteran father near the end of his life, she comes to finally understand him and his way of ensuring she survives. With compassion, she comes to see her father in a new light and to better understand not just her father but also herself. It’s a lesson in learning the skills of opening and heartfelt listening, skills the world needs more of these days. It’s a book everyone should read and share with their family.
March 2, 2024
I really hope the adult children of war veterans find this book, as well as anyone else who grew up in a challenging family. The author’s path toward healing is really remarkable. Becky Ellis faces her heart-wrenching childhood memories and works tirelessly to understand them with her PTSD-afflicted father, many years later when he’s finally ready. I can’t even imagine the work it must have taken the author to record the truly harrowing account of her father’s service in World War II, one day at a time. That part of the book falls between Ellis’ childhood memories and my favorite part: her candid kitchen-table talks with her aged father as a mother of three. The two of them offer a path for all of us to forge empathy for the most difficult people in our lives.
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