FUNNY FARM

An adult survivor of domestic violence recounts her experience starting an animal rescue farm in honor of her courageous mother.

When Zaleski was a child, her neighbors thought her family was perfect. Her mother, “a happy homemaker, demure but fashionable in her minidresses and capris with beautifully coiffed hair and flawless makeup,” was well matched with her charming, economically successful husband. But behind all the society page–worthy parties, the family harbored a dark secret: Zaleski’s father was dangerously violent. Finally, after two unsuccessful attempts at fleeing, Zaleski’s mother packed the children in the car and relocated to a house in the New Jersey woods that was so run-down it was almost uninhabitable. There followed years of abject poverty, continued harassment from her father, and a long line of adopted animals (“an endless litany of sad stories”). Zaleski’s mother rescued so many animals that she nicknamed their home the Funny Farm, a name the author would use when she formally opened an animal rescue farm in her mother’s honor weeks after her untimely death. “She had rallied, like Lazarus, after her brain surgery, so much so that we started believing in miracles,” writes Zaleski. “But…her decline, when it came, was swift. She faded before our eyes like a Polaroid in reverse.” The narrative alternates between a chronological account of the family’s experiences living just 10 minutes—yet a world away—from their wealthy, abusive father and vignettes about the animals living at the current Funny Farm. The author expertly balances humor and vulnerability while sharing the details of her harrowing childhood, making the book feel like a conversation between friends. Although the interspersed anecdotes about the Funny Farm’s most famous rescued animals provide welcome moments of levity, they sometimes lack a connection to the main story. On the whole, however, the book, both heartwarming and heartbreaking, is an enjoyable read.

An affirming memoir about surviving domestic violence with the help of furred and feathered friends.