Add to your library
Bookmark or share this book:
Share on Facebook
Tweet
Share on Google+
Save this on Delicious
Published: July 03, 2011
Words: 78,899 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9780982936511
Short description
Reversible Skirt recounts the heartrending decade after one young mother’s suicide, as seen through the eyes of her youngest child, Laura, who was a toddler at the time of the tragedy. It also reveals what Laura and her sisters discovered that led them out of darkness and into productive adult lives.Extended description
When the mother of three little girls commits suicide, their father wants more than anything to keep his family together. He remarries in haste and tells his daughters his new wife is their mother. The youngest, Laura, believes her mother must have gone through a kind of magical transformation.Reversible Skirt is written from Laura’s perspective as a child sifting through remnants of her mother’s existence and struggling to fit into a community where her family’s strict rules are not the norm. When Laura’s father dies, her stepmother grows increasingly abusive, which propels Laura and her sisters into a lasting alliance. Their father’s wish that they stay together comes true, although not in the way he’d imagined.
Tags
suicide, memoir, sisters, orphan, memoir family, memoir childhoodAvailable ebook reading formats
Single purchase gains access to all formats. How to download ebooks to e-reading devices and apps.| Format | Full Book | Sample First 20% |
|---|---|---|
| Online Reading (HTML, good for sampling in web browser) | Buy | View sample |
| Kindle (.mobi for Kindle devices and Kindle apps) | Buy | Download sample |
| Epub (Apple iPad/iBooks, Nook, Sony Reader, Kobo, and most e-reading apps including Stanza, Aldiko, Adobe Digital Editions, others) | Buy | Download sample |
| PDF (good for reading on PC, or for home printing) | Buy | No sample available |
| LRF (Use only for older model Sony Readers that don't support .epub) | Buy | Download sample |
| Palm Doc (PDB) (for Palm reading devices) | Buy | Download sample |
Videos
Reversible Skirt Book TrailerReviews
Log-in to write a Review Log-in to add a Video Review
Review by:
Tanya Savko
on March 14, 2013 :
I very much enjoyed this engaging, highly descriptive book. I have a parent who grew up in a household that sounds very much like the one in the story, and this book helped me to understand some of my parent's beliefs and fears that in turn affected me while growing up. I recommend this book to anyone who knows someone who grew up in an abusive family - it will make a difference in how you see things with that person, and it will give you a deep respect for the person who survived and thrived.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)
Review by:
Michelle Brauer
on July 02, 2012 :
Reversible Skirt, by Laura McHale Holland, is a heart-breaking memoir about one young mother’s suicide as seen through the eyes of her youngest child, Laura. A toddler at the time of the tragedy, Laura is initially bewildered by the changes swirling around her family, including the appearance of a new stepmother, who is simply passed off as the same person to the children.
The author has done a masterful job of capturing the thought process of a young child as she struggles to make sense of the changes in her world. The tragic events of the girls’ lives aren’t over, unfortunately. The abuse they experience as they grow and confront of the truth of their mother’s death and their father’s choices can be painful to read. Yet it’s worth persevering, because the book ends with Laura and her sisters finding strength and peace in adulthood.
Reversible Skirt describes a time in our not-too-distant past where mental illness and suicide were swept under the rug. While we have made some gains as a society, the situation will feel familiar to those of us who have lived through mental illness in our own families. What was most intriguing about the book was how the author and her sisters forgave their abusive stepmother after everything she did to them as children. Their ability to survive and recover from their challenging childhoods is uplifting. The capacity they show for forgiveness is truly inspiration.
(reviewed long after purchase)
Review by:
Michelle Brauer
on July 02, 2012 :
(no rating)
Reversible Skirt, by Laura McHale Holland, is a heart-breaking memoir about one young mother’s suicide as seen through the eyes of her youngest child, Laura. A toddler at the time of the tragedy, Laura is initially bewildered by the changes swirling around her family, including the appearance of a new stepmother, who is simply passed off as the same person to the children.
The author has done a masterful job of capturing the thought process of a young child as she struggles to make sense of the changes in her world. The tragic events of the girls’ lives aren’t over, unfortunately. The abuse they experience as they grow and confront of the truth of their mother’s death and their father’s choices can be painful to read. Yet it’s worth persevering, because the book ends with Laura and her sisters finding strength and peace in adulthood.
Reversible Skirt describes a time in our not-too-distant past where mental illness and suicide were swept under the rug. While we have made some gains as a society, the situation will feel familiar to those of us who have lived through mental illness in our own families. What was most intriguing about the book was how the author and her sisters forgave their abusive stepmother after everything she did to them as children. Their ability to survive and recover from their challenging childhoods is uplifting. The capacity they show for forgiveness is truly inspiration.
(reviewed long after purchase)
Review by:
Eva Kende
on Sep. 08, 2011 :
Reversible Skirt
by Laura McHale Holland
Laura McHale Holland broaches the subject, suicide, which has long been a taboo subject in western society. The author tells the story of three little girls, herself one of them, coping with the big secret, their mother's suicide. Children back then were not supposed to remember, have feelings or understand. Armed with these presumptions and an iron will, Laura's stepmother runs her charges with cruel rules and chores, forcing the girls to eventually unite against her.
Even though our childhoods were literally a world apart, I could relate to many of the problems of the girls faced. I had a grandmother whom I adored in spite of my mother's interference. There was a dark hole about my paternal grandfather's death of what they called "depression" that was never explained. As for the lack of nice school clothes, I could actually feel the pain of a teenage girl, because I've walked in those shoes.
The author describes, amazingly well, the thoughts and feelings that run through her little-girl mind, never faltering to show us, without being tempted to add an adult comment, the events as they unfold. Her naiveté, coupled with longing for something else, something better, is palpable.
To fill in the adult background, she cleverly interjects the missing information with a number of handwritten letters, from her deceased mother, who as a roaming spirit, watches over them and tries to explain herself.
The book delves into a very difficult subject. Well written and honest, this book makes for a thought provoking read. I am looking forward to a sequel, to find out what happened to the girls after they freed themselves from the clutches of a truly wicked or may be just incompetent stepmother.
Reviewed by Eva Kende
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/46518
(reviewed long after purchase)