A searing memoir that confronts the complexities of love, identity, and survival.
Duncan’s third installment in her Lion Tamer memoir series is a taut, introspective journey through family, faith, and self-discovery in 1960s California. Marie’s coming-of-age story is plagued by societal and familial pressures, heightened by her strict Catholic upbringing. Her formative years are marked by intense emotional struggles, rooted in the dysfunction of her family. Despite finding comfort in the Catholic faith, war, suffering, and human cruelty force her to question the existence of a benevolent God.
Her doubts intensify when she receives a marriage proposal, grappling with uncertainty toward love and commitment. A move from Seattle to California disrupts Marie’s sense of stability, leaving her yearning for the familiarity of home. She turns to art, finding solace in Van Gogh’s work and its raw expression of human struggle. Duncan masterfully blends her personal story with the tumultuous social changes of the 1960s, from war and civil rights to shifting gender norms. Her honest admissions of inadequacy, loneliness, and substance abuse paint a vivid picture of her struggle to cope with life’s challenges. Sharp and introspective, the memoir’s episodic structure creates a cohesive yet fragmented depiction of her journey. Deeply personal and universally resonant; a must-read.
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