Book Review: Penelope Ayers

In November I review our thoughts about a book reading by Amy Julia Becker from her first work, Penelope Ayers: a memoir. Today, I read her book. Penelope Ayers: a memoir is Amy Julia's story as much as it is her mother-in-law's. Penelope Ayers was the matriarch of a native and broken New Orleans family. After a lifetime of disappointment, estranged relationships and depression, Penny learns she has liver cancer. Told through the eyes of her daughter-in-law, Penny finds her way back home to many previously long lost friends and family members. For Amy Julia, Penny's story is one of healing and hope. While the cancer is terminal, Penny rediscovers life.

Many of our first assumptions about the book were accurate - this is a work in progress. More importantly, this book serves as a catharsis for the writer, which helps and hinders it as a work to be read widely. As a writer, Amy Julia has a lot of heart and I admit, I feel a few tears spring to my eyes while reading this book because I felt the presence of strong, complicated love of family. To an extent, we all have families with broken histories and the process of healing (or in some cases, lack of healing) is powerful. For Becker, healing is inextricably connected to her Christian faith, which plays a large role in her book. While I appreciate that this book is a personal history, I felt disconnected from the prevalence of The Church, but this is Becker's story. Some parts of the story drag as Becker meticulously includes every detail and development of the journey. I have not read enough Christian literature or literature about terminal patients (though I have read Tuesdays with Morrie which I found trite with life lessons too neatly packaged) to know where this book fits into either genre. I think this book has the potential to be similar to Joan Didion's The Magical Year of Thinking in that it explores the messy relationships of family and life. Penelope Ayers needs work and more distance from the grief associated with its writing, but as Amy Julia hones her craft, this book could become much more powerful.
http://amyjuliabecker.com/

- KER