Sibling Revelries: Finding Family After 62 Years

by Mary Jo Latham-Martin

It started with a shaky hand, a worried heart and a quivering voice. Those symptoms were caused by a neurological disease that MARY JO was told was hereditary. It wasn’t on her mother’s side. That left only her father’s genetics to explain it. Mary Jo grew up in a single-parent household, and never know her father. Her mother, one of the first women to be accepted into the Marine Corps in WWII, refused to talk about him. The diagnosis of that neurological condition sparked a chain reaction of discoveries in trying to identify its source. From DNA testing, to online and library genealogy, to US Navy service records, Mary Jo learned she was not the only child she thought she was, but one of six, with three half-brothers and two half-sisters from four different mothers and one common father. Along this journey of discovery, the siblings learned more about each other’s mothers and their father, and vowed that they’d preserve as much of their stories as they knew. This memoir is not only about Mary Jo and her journey, it’s also about the siblings and their mothers and their father—to the extent they could piece those histories together. The dialogue, history, emotions, and revelations of this expanded family merge into an unforgettable memoir of reaching out, embracing difference, healing old wounds, and finding joy in a not-so-normal world.

258 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 2, 2018

About the author

Mary Jo Martin, a member of the Houston Writer’s Guild, is an award-winning writer who lives in the suburbs of Houston, Texas. Her short story, set in South Carolina, about domestic abuse and a poisoning, Flowers for Lewis, was published in a Houston Writer’s Guild Press anthology, Waves of Suspense (2015). Another short story about scars, The Life of Riley, appeared in the online literary magazine, Short Fiction Break. And a short story about a weekend in the Texas Hill Country and chickens will be part of an anthology to be published this year.

Sibling Revelries won first place in the memoir category in a Houston Writer’s Guild contest, and an honorable mention in a Houston Writer’s House contest.

Aside from all this cool author stuff, Mary Jo has a B.Sc. in Chemistry and is a graduate of The Wharton School. This was her ticket out of South Philly. She did marketing and market research for 40 years. Then she hung up her marketing shingle and retired to a leisurely life of writing something more interesting and fun than business reports.

Reviews

[Wdaily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful read from a dear friend. Recommended especially during the holidays as family gathers.

[Ron Bitto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mary Jo Latham-Martin’s book Sibling Revelries is an unusual memoir, which starts in 2003 with the author learning – at age 57 --that she has a neurological condition which may be genetic. Raised by a single mother, she never knew her biological father. Could he have passed this condition on to her? She begins a journey to track him down, or at least find his medical records. Along the way, she finds out that her father, Clarence, had another five children with three other women. With detective work, curiosity and an open heart, Mary Jo finds all her siblings and forges relationships with all of them. After being raised as an only child and having a successful career in business, she was thrilled to discover that she was one of six brothers and sisters, hence the book’s title.

The book also reconstructs her father’s path through life, and tells the story of each of the four mothers whom Clarence met in Los Angeles, Honolulu and San Diego while serving in the U.S. Navy. Of all the women, Mary Jo’s mother Irene is the most impressive; she served as a Marine during World War II and raised Mary Jo in Philadelphia with her mother’s help. The other four mothers are presented with sensitivity and respect.

In addition to telling Mary Jo’s story, the memoir includes many memories of the youth of an early baby-boomer, including details of what it was like to grow up in Philadelphia in the 1950s. After reading the book, I felt I’d had a conversation with a close friend. If I had been in her position, I would have been angry with Clarence for his irresponsible behavior and shoddy treatment of his wives and lovers. But Mary Jo Latham-Martin’s generous and forgiving spirit enables her to tell this complex story without judging him too harshly.

[Chrissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this memoir very much--it read as if you were sitting at a cafe having a series of conversations with a friend. It inspired several pauses to recount to my husband what I'd just read. I could have easily continued on (should one have been available) to read a biography of author's mother.

[Mary Latham-Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A potentially biased review. I think it's a good read that takes you on a journey through the 20th century to the present.