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A review by peelspls
Evidence of V: A Novel in Fragments, Facts, and Fictions by Sheila O'Connor
5.0
This book made me realize what intergenerational trauma means. This book also made me understand what bio-mythography means.
This book is also the first of its kind. It merges fact, fiction, the act of writing, the act of uncovering a family's long-buried secret, the generations of women tolerating abuse and the devotion of reconciliation. Reading this book felt like a very meditative experience. The author was telling me a story, and yes stories are usually fiction, but fiction also pieces together historical fragments to make a whole. The author pieces her family together as a whole, and through this provides continuity to her children. Moving from narrative prose, to poetry, to lists, to quotes and even to puzzling games, the chapters unfold a difficult story of a young woman whose story was forcibly erased.
This is not usually the kind of book I read, but I am so glad to have read it. The book is the author's journey to piece together her family's history by uncovering state and federal laws that prohibit this history from being realized. The protagonist (V) is created through the combination of history, federal records, court rulings, diary entries and parole comments. She is also created through the "collages of girls" that the author must paste into her in order to complete her picture. Her story reveals the pain of families rife with abuse, the idea and penalties for being an "incorrigible delinquent" and yet being labeled a criminal for 15-year-old teenager who likes games and candy.
The final chapter of the book is an essay on delinquent penitentiaries in the state. While most of the work is research that the author did for her book, the essay also highlights what the nature of the state and penitentiaries can be in shaping moral views of women in society.
This book is also the first of its kind. It merges fact, fiction, the act of writing, the act of uncovering a family's long-buried secret, the generations of women tolerating abuse and the devotion of reconciliation. Reading this book felt like a very meditative experience. The author was telling me a story, and yes stories are usually fiction, but fiction also pieces together historical fragments to make a whole. The author pieces her family together as a whole, and through this provides continuity to her children. Moving from narrative prose, to poetry, to lists, to quotes and even to puzzling games, the chapters unfold a difficult story of a young woman whose story was forcibly erased.
This is not usually the kind of book I read, but I am so glad to have read it. The book is the author's journey to piece together her family's history by uncovering state and federal laws that prohibit this history from being realized. The protagonist (V) is created through the combination of history, federal records, court rulings, diary entries and parole comments. She is also created through the "collages of girls" that the author must paste into her in order to complete her picture. Her story reveals the pain of families rife with abuse, the idea and penalties for being an "incorrigible delinquent" and yet being labeled a criminal for 15-year-old teenager who likes games and candy.
The final chapter of the book is an essay on delinquent penitentiaries in the state. While most of the work is research that the author did for her book, the essay also highlights what the nature of the state and penitentiaries can be in shaping moral views of women in society.