SGoodreads review: Southern fiction and Mother-Daugther RelationshipsSet in rural Georgia in the 1960s, BREAKING TWIG is a coming-of-age novel about Becky (Twig) Cooper, a young woman trying to survive the physical and emotional abuse of her mother, Helen, a beautiful, calculating woman who can, with a mere look, send the meanest cur in Sugardale, Georgia running for its life. Not even Twig?s vivid imagination, keen wit, and dark sense of humor is enough to help her survive the escalating assaults of Helen and a new stepbrother, but help comes from an unexpected source�Frank, her stepfather. Sometimes, having one person who loves and believes in you is all a girl needs to keep hope alive. Often raw and irreverent and sprinkled with all the Southern flavoring found in a good bowl of chicken and dumplings, BREAKING TWIG, is about finding love where we least expect it, destroying lives with easy lies, and realizing each of us determine our own truth.

I downloaded this book a while back when it was offered free as a download on Kindle. I was debating on actually reading it as I felt I would be angry to hear about a mother doing horrible things to her child. The more I read the more I wanted to stop reading as I still couldn't believe the mother was this mean.

I just finished the book and with all the bad this poor child dealt with she ends up with a happy ending. I would have loved to have seen a follow up with the character as it is left hanging. The writer did an excellent job with descriptions of scenes and characters.

Your hear will break, you will cry, cheer, yell and even want to smash things but little do we know things like this actually happen. ( )

Free book for Kindle. Was pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed the book a lot. A young girl lives with her abusive mother and is raped by her stepbrother. This sets in motion a chain of events that changes the course of all the lives involved. Through it all the main character finds the only one she can turn to is her stepfather. ( )

Free book for Kindle. Was pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed the book a lot. A young girl lives with her abusive mother and is raped by her stepbrother. This sets in motion a chain of events that changes the course of all the lives involved. Through it all the main character finds the only one she can turn to is her stepfather. ( )

We first meet Becky in 1963 Georgia when’s she’s 13 years old and suffering through yet another beating by her Momma, who the town believes to be the picture of beauty and grace. The only bright spot in her life is Johnny, the son of her housekeeper. They’ve known each other their whole lives but, because he’s Mexican, her mother hates him and forbids them to see each other.

With Johnny gone, her stepfather Frank becomes her only friend. He believes in her and loves her and, with his help, Becky slowly learns to accept herself. It takes time, but she learns to listen to her heart for the lessons it’s been trying to teach her about her life.

As I read about the constant beatings and abuse Becky suffered over the years from her mother and stepbrother all I could think was “how could anyone not have noticed?” Unfortunately that was the reality of the times, but knowing this doesn’t make reading about it any easier.

I was upset about the abuse, but I was really upset that she seemed to sit back and accept it as the norm, even as an adult, because the years of abuse had rendered her pliant. It seemed as if the author wanted her stripped down to having nothing left to live for before she was allowed to make a decision of her own.

At the risk of giving out too many Spoilers, let me just say I think Becky should have been allowed to come to her senses long before she lost everything she held dear. She should have been allowed her time with Johnny, and not endured everything the author piled upon her, including the time she spent with Frank.

Recommended, with some misgivings, for Adults.

Blog review link: https://shouldireaditornot.wordpress.com/2015/11/23/breaking-twig-deborah-eppers... ( )