Linda Martin’s Reviews > The Shelf Life of Ashes: A Memoir > Status Update

Nearly done with this memoir. Throughout the book she writes about the many trips she made to see her adoptive parents while her mother was sick and dying. It is a sad drawn out sort of memoir not helped by the negative thoughts and attitudes she has about these people who raised her and who expect so much from her. The family is not a happy one. She lives in WA and they live in PA so, lots of travel.

The author had to deal with a lot of aging and death: her clients and her parents.

Interesting memoir! I didn't expect to appreciate this book so much. I thought it would mostly be about the author's experiences as a companion to the elderly. I did not expect so much interesting information about her experiences with adoption, two mothers, and her adopted mother's religion, Christian Science. She confirmed what I always thought of Christian Science and added a whole lot more. Fascinating.

Very interesting, and I've grown to enjoy her unrestrained writing style. She's a 50 year old woman living in Seattle working as an assistant to the elderly. Sadly, most of her clients seems to be somewhat senile and have other issues. Her writing tends to focus on the negative and not the positive, even when she's writing about her own life. She's still recovering from childhood trauma.

I am slowly warming up to this memoir. I've been reading her observations about the Belltown district of Seattle while looking up locations she mentioned there, using Google Maps, so I can visualize the places she was writing about. Great fun. This brought the book to life for me. I love memoirs.