Review 79: Wild Game

Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me by Adrienne Brodeur
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a well written memoir. What attracted me to the the title was the relationship between mother and daughter, not being ideal. Wow, Adrienne Brodeur's mother did not know boundaries with her child. We learn that this poor relationship between mother and daughter did not start there, but was in a line of matriarchs. Brodeur captures the intensity and passion of her mother and their secrets. As she grows older and attempts to create her own self-identity, her mother balks. The pain is palpable.

I don't want to give anything away, as this is a powerful read. I applaud Brodeur for being self-aware and immensely strong to dive deep into family relationships and write this book. I can only imagine how difficult that task when there may be people who want to hide the stark truths.

A film version is already in development, and it's no surprise. Read this book before, it will be worth the time.


Thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.