WHAT I'M READING -- MAUDE by Donna Mabry

I haven't done a lot of reading in the past year.  Ever since I retired I have been watching a lot of TV and movies, doing housework, and generally living life.  The other day I was looking at 99 cent books on my Kindle and came across this one.

It intrigued me because when I read the introduction it reminded me of my great-grandmother.  They lived during the same time frame.  They both went from horse-drawn carriages to jet planes.  And although Maude lived in Arkansas and Michigan and my great-grandmother lived in Pennsylvania both of them had high regard for their God and their families.

The story begins in 1906 and goes through to 1967.  Life is hard in 1906 and society was different.  It didn't matter if you had a good marriage or a bad one.  Divorce, although not unheard of, was difficult and women had few rights.  Even the children belonged to the husband along with all the woman's earthly possessions.  

This is a fictionalized version of a true story.  I think it's only called fiction because Donna Mabry had to flesh out the characters with conversations and thoughts and feelings.

I began reading this book on Monday morning and finished it this morning.  The paperback version of it has 496 pages so you can imagine how fast I went through it.  The fact that I sat in the VA Hospital for several hours two days this week helped, I'm sure.  But this book was so fascinating I couldn't put it down.  Every time Joe looked at me, I was reading -- even while cooking dinner last night.

Some of the book is gory.  A lot of it sad.  Some of it happy.  A lot of it disappointing.  In other words, it's real life.  No sugar-coating in this story.

If you like biographies, real life down and dirty stories, then you will like this book.  It's on the Wall Street Journal Best Sellers List and it's number one on Amazon's Self-Published Best Sellers list this week.

Maude by Donna Mabry: “In 1906, I was barely over fourteen years old, and it was my wedding day. My older sister, Helen, came to my room, took me by the hand, and sat me down on the bed. She opened her mouth to say something, but then her face flushed, and she turned her head to look out the window. After a second, she squeezed my hand and looked back in my eyes. She said, “You’ve always been a good girl, Maude, and done what I told you. Now, you’re going to be a married woman, and he will be the head of the house. When you go home tonight after your party, no matter what he wants to do to you, you have to let him do it. Do you understand?”