Frozen Dinners: A Memoir of a Fractured Family

by Elaine Ambrose

Winner of 2019 Distinguished Favorite for Memoir from Independent Press Award Program. Winner of New York City Big Book Award for 2019 Distinguished Favorite for Memoir, With the advent of TV dinners in the 1950s, an intense and entrepreneurial father rises from poverty to build a multi-million-dollar trucking empire hauling frozen food throughout the Northwest. His determination, combined with generosity and strict punishment, leaves his family in a state of emotional paralysis. After his untimely death, his survivors implode in a maelstrom of brutal courtroom drama, illness, and dementia. The estate and family are destroyed.Frozen Dinners is the story of Elaine Ambrose, who spends half a century searching for love and warmth beyond the contaminated legacy of her fractured family."Full of luscious details, clear-eyed compassion, and enduring joy..." - Kim Barnes, Author of Pulitzer Prize Finalist for Memoir,"This tell-all memoir will resonate with anyone who has endured family dysfunction." - Joely Fisher, Author of "Growing Up Fisher""Affecting and sometimes poetic, "Frozen Dinners" paints a complex portrait of a twentieth-century Idaho family and its business empire." - Foreword Clarion Reviews

Genres: Memoir

192 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 8, 2018

About the author

Elaine Ambrose is an award-winning, bestselling author of 12 books, 14 eBooks, and 4 audiobooks. Her books have won 10 national writing awards in three genres: humor, memoir, and children's books. Her new children's book is titled Melody's Magical Flying Machine and features a girl with Down syndrome as the narrator. Midlife Cabernet won two national humor awards, Publishers Weekly reviewed it as “laugh-out-loud funny!” and Foreword Reviews wrote that the book was “an argument for joy” similar to Erma Bombeck. Her book, Midlife Happy Hour, was a finalist for Foreword INDIES Book of the Year and won First Place for Midlife from the Independent Publisher Award. Her memoir Frozen Dinners won Distinguished Favorite awards from the New York City Big Book Awards and from the Independent Press Awards. Her children’s book, Gators & Taters, won an award for Children’s Literature from the 2018 Independent Press Awards. Her bilingual children’s book, The Magic Potato – La Papa Mágica, was selected by the Idaho State Board of Education for the statewide curriculum. Ambrose’s award-winning syndicated blog posts are published on several websites, and one humorous post became one of the most-read posts in the history of The Huffington Post. Elaine lives with her patient husband in Eagle, Idaho.

Reviews

[Lynne Spreen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very Moving

I think a good memoir is relatable, and this one made me think of the difficult times in my own childhood. It's both sad and uplifting. Nicely done.

[Melody K. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was so disappointed in this book. Technically, it needed an editor. The writing was all over the place.

Subject-wise it was basically a public shaming to her brother. She took this opportunity to out him for his behavior. It was not a memoir, nor a story.

[Linda Hudak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not enough stars to say thank you for this memoir.

This is a wonderful tribute to the Ambrose family dynasty. From the trauma of an early life of harsh treatment from a distant but determined father to the living a life she had dreamed for herself, it all rings true and impactful.
So many of Elaine's memories were ones I shared myself. The savage destruction of the family fortunes, the break from brother Tom and his callous treatment of his own mother and sister is something I have seen and experienced. Elaine inherited the humor, compassion and love from her parents in a way only she could bring out. This was a pleasure to read.

[Jill Crosby · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ms Ambrose is a proud writer whose material is good enough for publication. But she breaks the biggest rule of ALL writers—beginners, advanceds, elites, professionals—in that she TELLS & DOESN’T SHOW!!!!
I was interested about the whole connection between frozen dinners and how they came to symbolize a dysfunctional fractured family. The problem is—this doesn’t come across until 169 of a 170-page book. And it truly did not seem like her family was THAT dysfunctional. Her dad works his way up from grease monkey to trucking empire owner and multi-millionaire in the potato industry. He insists that his children work in the family business, they respect their parents, that they do well in school. If they don’t do these things, they receive corporal punishment. (This story takes place in the early ‘60’s. EVERYONE received corporal punishment). She talks about yearning for a closer relationship with her father, but doesn’t flesh it out. There’s no showing her love for her father mentioned. She just says she wished to be closer to him.
And the fractures family doesn’t appear until the end of the book after the father dies, and the oldest son swindles and cheats the rest of his family out of their inheritances, while running the company into the ground. The author and her mother take this gem to court and win back a small-ish settlement than what they’re really owed, and then there’s great lamentation about “never hearing from that brother again.” Wonder why.
Though Ambrose is a poet, her prose is stale and prim, a recitation of events and tired phrases of awe over the beauty of the land around her.
I bought this book new, and it’s already on the “Donate” pile. The “ poor little rich girl” trope can be done successfully in the hands of a skilled author. Ambrose just isn’t one to pull it off.
On the plus side (earning the one star rating), I DID learn a lot about the potato industry.

[Beth Jerkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

Surface

So much was left unsaid. I was surprised she cared for her mother because I had not thought there was a relationship between them. Bragged a lot, but her story jumped about with no depth. Grew up in a family that worked hard. What was so bad about that? Discipline made her someone who contributed to society.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

BLAH

[Debbie Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

By the title, I was expecting some light-hearted humor to accompany the "fractured family." It is truly about the fractured family. Well-written but a little heavy for me. A lot of the technical stuff, I didn't try to understand. Too much for me.

[Anita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Took Me on A Journey

I enjoyed this book so much. My favorite genre has to be memoirs and this book is high on my list. The author's father started out as a mechanic and worked his way up to owning a multi million dollar trucking company and other businesses. The people in his town doubted him and he still proved them all wrong and that is one of the things I enjoyed about the book. This book was so much more than frozen dinners. It was about legacy and how important it is to value family and hold them close because we never know what the future holds and how it will change us and the people around us.

[colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book! The story was very interesting! I love memoirs, this one is written well. I felt the authors pain when she wrote about the family dynamics after her father died. I cried for her sweet mother. The author did a very nice job opening up to her readers and sharing some interesting stories about the farming industry, the trucking industry, innovation, and family dynamic. It also helps me to understand how people were during those times. My mother is the age of the author and she has shared some similar experiences with how women were treated during those times!

[Joni Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

When it happens to you it's a book.

Her upbringing seemed harsh, but that's the way it was for most kids growing up in that era. Parents then thought spankings were good for you like red meat and vitamins. Most of her life was pretty typical. She was just richer than everybody else. I do appreciate her standing up for feminism and the fact that she kept her name. First person memoirs are my favorite genre. This just wasn't one that I liked the best.

[Jodi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have read her other books. For some reason this one was not keeping me involved. I was going to use for extreme book nerd for either, Idaho, less than 200 pages or memoir. With all these options I didn't think it would be so hard to finish. The book got better but, it was hard to listen. I did both read and listen to get thru it. It made me mad about her brother Tom. It really was about 1960-1970 the way of life and thoughts about women and what they could do in society.

[Rhonda Apsley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story of author growing up in Wendell, Idaho with a domineering but ambitious father, and the future demise of their business empire and family. Parts were repeated and the author seems to still be grappling with her upbringing. The story would have been more compelling if it were told in chronological order.

[Sherry Lynn Wood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Frozen family

Another memoir about another fractured family and money, power and greed are the center of it. I truly believe people who behave like Tom did has the devil in them. I cant imagine treating my loved ones that way.

[Crystal Mohlsick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very basic

Very well written. Not very adventurous or interesting. Kind of a salt and pepper flavored book. It's good to hear others life stories but it wasn't that dysfunctional as far as I'm concerned

[Natalie Daniels · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was interesting enough to finish the audiobook on a long drive but it really lacked depth and at times was confusing because it jumped around chronologically but didn’t make sense to jump around. Not a terrible book but also nothing exciting or overly interesting.

[Donnaburkhart · Rating 5 out of 5]

love this book

Loved the descriptions of her family and the area where she grew up. Interesting and very engaging as she explains the personalities and situations in her life as she changed from a little girl to a woman

[Frances Houseman · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writer has an interesting story but the book read more like a chronology of things that happened to her family, rather than true story-telling.

[Debra Ballard · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing family

So glad that she wrote her family memoir. Very strong personalities. I hope her brother Tom finally understands the damage he caused.

[Pamela J · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring. Nothing noteworthy or new here.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast read about Elaines life. As a classmate I found details most interesting.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an informative as well as an inspirational read, giving heartbreaking yet hopeful details of a small-town Idaho childhood in the 1950s-60s.