Her Last Death: A Memoir

Sonnenberg, Susanna

3.35

3,508 ratings by Goodreads

ISBN 10: 0743569806 ISBN 13: 9780743569804

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio, 2008

The daughter of a narcissistic and addictive mother shares the story of her life as it was influenced by her glamorous and charismatic mother's ill-fated teen elopement, compulsive lies, and dependence on cocaine, narcotics, and sex. Simultaneous.

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Review:

Susanna's mother gave her a copy of Penthouse when she was a ten-year-old, cocaine when she was 12, and seduced her boyfriend at 14. Sonnenberg recounts "the true calamity of being daughter to this mother." The glory of this memoir is that the author survived her traumatic childhood and somehow navigated her way to a deftly written book capturing her dismantled youth. The daughter of a glamorous, falling-down addict of a mother and a gifted, self-absorbed father, Sonnenberg never falls into the trap of attempting to analyze two people never meant to be parents. Instead, we are allowed to feel the strange and powerful familial currencies running between mother and daughter through the keenly observed writing of Sonnenberg. The writing is razor-sharp and raw, a significant feat considering the untethered early years of this immensely talented writer. --Molly Jay

About the Author:

Susanna Sonnenberg was born in London in 1965 and grew up in New York. Her essays have appeared in Elle, O, the Oprah Magazine and Parenting, among other magazines. She lives in Montana with her husband and two sons.

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