AN INVISIBLE CHILD

Name: AN INVISIBLE CHILD
Author: Lenore Ossen
ISBN: 978-1-63417-425-1

by Lenore Ossen ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 29, 2018

An often heartrending story of abuse and recovery.

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In her debut memoir, Ossen writes about growing up in a deeply dysfunctional household.

The author writes that her mother, Hedda, had a phobia about germs, so she didn’t allow anyone to touch Ossen when she was a child for fear of infection—not even her father, George. Ossen also wasn’t allowed to talk to strangers, go to school, have friends, or even open the refrigerator by herself when she was hungry. At one point, the author’s uncle, Will, convinced George to have Hedda committed to a psychiatric institution in order to get her some help; Ossen writes that when a psychiatrist told Will that she was “trying to find out why [Hedda] hates her child so much,” Will angrily responded that “her plight is...the very opposite—she loves her child too much!” Will moved Hedda to a sanitorium, Ossen writes, from which George engineered her release. The author’s first demands for independence, at age 13, illustrate the control that her mother exercised over her; the teen told Hedda that she no longer wanted her to “check my bowel movements,” and, for the first time, she disobeyed a standing order to avoid a public mailbox. As an adult, Ossen was wracked with fear and self-doubt, but she still married and went to college. By her mid-40s, she obtained a master’s degree in social work, and established herself as a professional therapist. Overall, Ossen tells an intensely personal story over the course of this lengthy book—one that’s a testament to her impressive drive to survive and find personal fulfillment in her daily life. Readers may sometimes express horror at the routine emotional cruelties that Ossen describes in these pages, as when her father happily ate an ice cream cone in front of her, when her own mother wouldn’t ever allow her to have the dessert. However, the author’s repeated use of similar phrases to articulate her feelings (“I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t hear anything”) sometimes has the effect of lessening the book’s emotional impact.

An often heartrending story of abuse and recovery.

Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-63417-425-1

Page Count: 642

Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.

Review Posted Online: Dec. 20, 2019

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.