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Digger: A Memoir
A remarkable and inspiring memoir of the author’s suspense-filled journey to unmask family secrets in order to find the truth at the core of her whether she had a twin sister from whom she was separated at birth.Digger is an astonishing story, beautifully written, full of suspense, and threaded with the insight and wisdom of the author who has devoted her life to finding the truth of a family secret – whether or not she had a twin. Thrilling, inspiring, and deeply poignant, this is also a story about the search for wholeness, that longing of the heart which is universal.Words cannot convey the power of this memoir – its dramatic momentum, mystical threads, and profound understanding of human nature and familial relationships. Digger is a landmark book, a remarkable achievement which deserves the highest possible recommendation.OLIVIA AMES HOBLITZELLEAuthor of Ten Thousand Joys & Ten Thousand a Couple’s Journey Through Alzheimer’s and Aging with Reflections, Stories & Teachings.In Digger, Barbara McCollough brings clarity and immediacy to a very complex, layered story. A gifted observer of people in relationships; she knows what they show and what they hide; she knows what they know but refuse to acknowledge. In Digger we see how people give themselves away, but of course, what we really see is McCollough giving us these people giving themselves away — through gestures, dialogue, silences — in other words, through ART. Brava!RICHARD HOFFMANAuthor of Half the House and Love & Fury.With as much rich compassion as compelling investigation, Barbara McCollough has given us a gorgeously wrought memoir that you won’t want to put down, one that you’ll never forget.RACHAEL HERRONInternationally Bestselling Author of Splinters of Light, A Life in Stitches, and Pack Up the Moon.
310 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 18, 2019
102 people are currently reading
49 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
August 5, 2022
I got 75% through this and couldn't finish it..it started well..then spiraled into..Oh for petesake!
June 16, 2020
Fascinating Quest: Incompletely Pursued and Explained
The reader finds in this beautifully written memoir many fascinating family stories which seem to back up what Barbara McCollough believes is likely: that she was born with a twin sister.
Because of her family’s history and other clues she has collected, her best working theory is that it is likely that her dad, whom she loves dearly, gave her sister to a woman on the same maternity ward as her mom.
As McCollough’s life continues into a successful adulthood, It begins to seem more and more probable to her that her dad, rightly worried about providing for a family of five at that time, gave her twin sister to a woman on the same maternity ward as his wife, McCollough’s mother, while she was still anesthetized.
The woman the author thinks received her twin had lost her baby. She thinks her father colluded with hospital staff to solve both her father’s financial anxiety and the other women’s almost certain collapse into a nervous breakdown if she knew her baby had died.
Yet there are just as many gaps in family history and in what the author chooses as her timeline and what she chooses NOT to further investigate. These un-filled out questions—there’s no full overview of the author’s family in terms of ethnicity and financial
state—and mysterious unexplained decisions—not to go see her dead twin’s husband and father but instead to let them discourage her-are bad for the memoir.
We never find out nor does McCollough any incontrovertible facts. She abandons her lifelong preoccupation and quest to pursue alternative mystical healing therapies and ceremonies.
In the end, McCollough tells us the answer to whether she was born a twin and whether the other twin was probably a woman she had researched just doesn’t matter because we are all one with the universe.
What IS in McCollough’s memoir is fascinating and well-stated. What is not explained is key to McCollough’s memoir yet, seemingly deliberately, left out. The book becomes a let-down and provokes many questions.
The reader finds in this beautifully written memoir many fascinating family stories which seem to back up what Barbara McCollough believes is likely: that she was born with a twin sister.
Because of her family’s history and other clues she has collected, her best working theory is that it is likely that her dad, whom she loves dearly, gave her sister to a woman on the same maternity ward as her mom.
As McCollough’s life continues into a successful adulthood, It begins to seem more and more probable to her that her dad, rightly worried about providing for a family of five at that time, gave her twin sister to a woman on the same maternity ward as his wife, McCollough’s mother, while she was still anesthetized.
The woman the author thinks received her twin had lost her baby. She thinks her father colluded with hospital staff to solve both her father’s financial anxiety and the other women’s almost certain collapse into a nervous breakdown if she knew her baby had died.
Yet there are just as many gaps in family history and in what the author chooses as her timeline and what she chooses NOT to further investigate. These un-filled out questions—there’s no full overview of the author’s family in terms of ethnicity and financial
state—and mysterious unexplained decisions—not to go see her dead twin’s husband and father but instead to let them discourage her-are bad for the memoir.
We never find out nor does McCollough any incontrovertible facts. She abandons her lifelong preoccupation and quest to pursue alternative mystical healing therapies and ceremonies.
In the end, McCollough tells us the answer to whether she was born a twin and whether the other twin was probably a woman she had researched just doesn’t matter because we are all one with the universe.
What IS in McCollough’s memoir is fascinating and well-stated. What is not explained is key to McCollough’s memoir yet, seemingly deliberately, left out. The book becomes a let-down and provokes many questions.
November 17, 2020
A Difficult Read
I have been reading a lot of memoirs lately, especially ones having to do with searches for missing family. This particular book, named for a sadly abused dog belonging to the author’s grandparents, seemed like it would continue in the search for a missing relative vein, but no. Instead, it’s a jumble of blaming family members, bouts of entry into a strange spiritual realm that really didn’t contribute to the goal of the story, hopping around from character to character, and more. Although it made my head ache, I kept skimming thinking something would make sense and move the author toward the goal of finding a twin she was never 100% sure she had. There were many times I wanted to step in and give the author a good talking to. She was so intent to find her twin, but usually managed to block her own way.
I have been reading a lot of memoirs lately, especially ones having to do with searches for missing family. This particular book, named for a sadly abused dog belonging to the author’s grandparents, seemed like it would continue in the search for a missing relative vein, but no. Instead, it’s a jumble of blaming family members, bouts of entry into a strange spiritual realm that really didn’t contribute to the goal of the story, hopping around from character to character, and more. Although it made my head ache, I kept skimming thinking something would make sense and move the author toward the goal of finding a twin she was never 100% sure she had. There were many times I wanted to step in and give the author a good talking to. She was so intent to find her twin, but usually managed to block her own way.
July 2, 2020
A real page-turner! This book really drew me in; I couldn't put it down. The author unfolds a gripping family mystery with grace and wit. The interactions with her parents are especially well written and touching. What’s amazing is her love for her father shines through even as she increasingly believes he committed an unforgivable betrayal.
May 11, 2020
I think she's crazy
Read
February 26, 2023Disappointed it doesn't say she ever connected with her twins family
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 27, 2024
Barbara has a mystery in her family. Her birth certificate states that she is a twin, and her parents say that it was a clerical error. Then, clues start cropping up that make her wonder if she being lied to so Barbara goes on a quest to get the answers. This main timeline of this memoir is in the 70's and for like 30% of the book, I am thinking "wow this would have been a short story if it were written today in the time of the World Wide Web!" I really did like this memoir, though, because it was a real thinker about twins and their connection to each other. I counted off a star only because she goes into a lot of detail about meditation/yoga/other Woo stuff which is not my bag
July 9, 2020
Barbara McCollough tells her story about searching for the twin sister she thinks was given away at birth.
She lost me a little as she reported the signs she encountered through her life that she believed indicated she had been a twin.
I wish, as I'm sure she did, that there had been a firm resolution at the end of the book.
She lost me a little as she reported the signs she encountered through her life that she believed indicated she had been a twin.
I wish, as I'm sure she did, that there had been a firm resolution at the end of the book.
April 27, 2020
A young woman figures out that she was a twin, or at least, she thinks she was, and looks for the truth.
I read this whole book hoping for something interesting to happen or be said, but truthfully, it was a big bore.
I read this whole book hoping for something interesting to happen or be said, but truthfully, it was a big bore.
June 25, 2020
A woman searches for her twin who was given away at birth. True story and very touching.
December 20, 2020
Good read
I felt the suspense in this book throughout. I fell like the author could have finished the book a few chapters earlier.
I felt the suspense in this book throughout. I fell like the author could have finished the book a few chapters earlier.
November 7, 2021
interesting but ultimately unsatisfying
The premise was interesting but so much of the story was her own navel-gazing. The story could have been much shorter
The premise was interesting but so much of the story was her own navel-gazing. The story could have been much shorter
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews