A review of “This Is How We Leave” in 100 words by Catherine Stover
How do you write a memoir about a family that has more than its share of abandonment and fractured relationships? Joanne Nelson’s book is a collection of fragments. Her short pieces show us a complex set of interactions between people who want to do better for themselves and for their families, though their efforts often fall short. This method of storytelling is difficult to do well: pieces that are too short have little value, but too-long stories can become heavy-handed. Nelson – a psychotherapist with an MFA – finds a solid balance. She offers descriptions, not prescriptions, for living with difficult history.
Work cited:
Nelson, Joanne. This Is How We Leave. Vine Leaves Press, 2020, p. 31.