This memoir has an addictive quality that pulls you in and makes you want to read it. Growing up white, wealthy and (secretly) gay in Mississippi in the 50’s and 60’s was an adventure all of its own. With an alcoholic mother who outcasts herself with her embarrassing behaviour and habits and a money hungry, womanizing, fairly absent father, Tena was still brought up with love and friendship from her black nanny, Virgie, while trying to discover who she is and where she stands in the world. Tena’s story is a heartbreaking portrayal of the secrets of society, the fight to abolish racial prejudice and slavery in a tiny town full of bullheaded residents, true love and finding out that not everything is truly as it seems. If you’ve read The Help, this is a brilliant book to pick up next, full of honesty, emotion, heartbreak and redemption.
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