Book Review and Giveaway: The Memory Palace by Mira Bartok

** This giveaway is closed **

Synopsis: " People have abandoned their loved ones for much less than you've been through," Mira Bartok is told at her mother's memorial service. It is a poignant observation about the relationship between Mira, her sister, and their mentally ill mother. Before she was struck with schizophrenia at the age of nineteen, beautiful piano protege. Norma Herr had been the most vibrant personality in the room. 

She loved her daughters and did her best to raise them well, but as her mental state deteriorated, Norma spoke less about Chopin and more about Nazis and her fear that her daughters would be kidnapped, murdered, or raped. When the girls left for college, the harassment escalated—Norma called them obsessively, appeared at their apartments or jobs, threatened to kill herself if they did not return home. After a traumatic encounter, Mira and her sister were left with no choice but to change their names and sever all contact with Norma in order to stay safe. 

But while Mira pursued her career as an artist—exploring the ancient romance of Florence, the eerie mysticism of northern Norway, and the raw desert of Israel—the haunting memories of her mother were never far away. Then one day, Mira's life changed forever after a debilitating car accident. As she struggled to recover from a traumatic brain injury, she was confronted with a need to recontextualize her life—she had to relearn how to paint, read, and interact with the outside world. In her search for a way back to her lost self, Mira reached out to the homeless shelter where she believed her mother was living and discovered that Norma was dying. 

Mira and her sister traveled to Cleveland, where they shared an extraordinary reconciliation with their mother that none of them had thought possible. At the hospital, Mira discovered a set of keys that opened a storage unit Norma had been keeping for seventeen years. Filled with family photos, childhood toys, and ephemera from Norma's life, the storage unit brought back a flood of previous memories that Mira had thought were lost to her forever.

About the Author:  Mira Bartok is a Chicago-born artist and writer and the author of twenty-eight books for children. Her writing has appeared in several literary journals and anthologies and has been noted in The Best American Essays series. She lives in Western Massachusetts where she runs Mira's List (http://www.miraslist.blogspot.com), a blog that helps artists find funding and residencies all over the world. The Memory Palace is Mira's first book for adults. You can find her at: www.thememorypalace.com.

Review: The Memory Palace is an amazing memoir that truly shows you how children of schizophrenic's cope, or in Mira's case, choose to walk away, from their parents issues. The book is a wonderful story of the ties that bind- for now matter what Mira was doing in the world, her mother seemed to have a psychic link to it, and expressed it in letters. Mira never knew if her mother was going to show up where she was and this link only heightened the fear. This book is NOT a quick sit down read- it is very complex- and heartbreaking at times. Anyone who has had family members with troubles (be it mental illness, alcohol or drugs), will be able to relate to Mira's story. The amazing life Mira led, despite coping with her mother's problems, was inspiring!

The Memory Palace is a prefect example of a mother's love for her child, that knows no bounds, and how we need to all store our memories in a safe place like the Memory Palace that Mira recommends. I highly recommend it! 

Giveaway:

One winner will win this review copy of The Memory Palace

Entries:

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Contest will end on February 10th, at midnight. Winner will be picked by Random Number (random.org) on February 11th, and emailed. As soon as winner's info is received, I will mail their book to them the following week!

Disclosure / Disclaimer:  i was sent this book, free of charge, for review purposes, by Free Press Publishing. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about th

• ISBN-10: 1439183317
• ISBN-13: 978-1439183311

e book either.