HOME TO THE WILDERNESS

by Sally Carrighar ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 30, 1973

This frank and moving autobiographical memoir by the popular nature writer recalls in one respect Beverley Nichols' shocking Father Figure (1972) -- both were the victims of damaged childhoods dominated by an oppressive and hostile parent. But unlike Nichols, Miss Carrighar, despite acute depressions as a child and a suicide attempt as an adult, did recognize surprisingly early that the real problem was her own adjustment and growth. Apparently because of a painful and traumatic birth, Sally's mother, who was attractive and garrulously social, was plainly repelled by her daughter, and even in her last years could not bear her company for long. Flights of rage, expressed in a ""bowl of venom"" and once in a terrifying physical attack, drove the child Sally to solitary pursuits and away from her gentle father (her mother could not bear father-daughter conversation). ""My mother's hatred was such a denial of normal maternal feeling that I thought of it as one would of a congenital deformity in myself."" Yet a child can deal with it and survive, and at one point Sally decided to be her own mother, giving herself loving reminders to eat well, be careful, etc. Music, writing, walks and especially the help of intelligent and perceptive adults aided her in breaking away -- to Wellesley where she was extravagantly happy, then to wandering through a series of jobs in movies, radio and advertising where a residue of despondency caught up with her, prompting thoughts of suicide. Psychoanalysis gave her a saving perspective and then she found a new and firm vocational direction -- away from people and toward the fresh and vigorous natural world which she would experience and write about. A compulsive but scrupulously honest confession.

Pub Date: April 30, 1973

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1973

Categories: NONFICTION