Broken Butterfly
Narrated with raw emotion, the memoir Broken Butterfly includes keen descriptions of maternal anxiety and feelings of helplessness in the face of a daughter’s abuse and addiction.
Wanda Gray’s emotive memoir Broken Butterfly is about grappling with the tumult in her daughter’s life.
Gray’s daughter, Erin, was an outgoing and bubbly child, but her demeanor changed when she started dating a new man in her early twenties. Gray took notice: Erin became thinner and more reserved, visiting Gray less and covering for her boyfriend’s suspicious behavior. After two years of this relationship, Erin was able to escape and relate to her mother the extent of the trauma and abuse she experienced. As they worked to build a legal case against her boyfriend, Erin also struggled with drug addiction. After Erin’s death, Gray worked through her grief and found ways to advocate for other addicts and survivors of abuse.
Narrated with raw emotion, the book includes keen descriptions of maternal anxiety and feelings of helplessness. Gray’s sleepless nights and inability to focus on work reflect the impact of Erin’s struggles on her life. Rear-gazing perspective is applied to recalling the past, making space for grief and regret; wishes that Gray could have done more for her daughter are expressed.
The book also includes Erin’s perspective, pulled together from journal entries, poems she wrote, and recalled conversations between mother and daughter. Erin’s narration reveals the truth about her relationship before Gray learned about it. However, there is a layer of distance in Erin’s sections as compared to Gray’s, and the contrast in emotion results in overall imbalance. Gray’s sections are more present and raw, even when Erin’s sections are describing direct actions in real time.
In addition to Erin’s sections of the book, some of her artwork is included. These pieces, painted as a way for Erin to cope with her trauma, add depth to her perspective. And her poems describe the horrors of her relationship and times she felt tortured and used, with no way out. Her paintings are more lighthearted, done for family and friends as a therapeutic method. As the book’s various media come together, Erin’s full personality is glimpsed, not just the aftereffects of her trauma.
A revealing memoir published in memoriam, Broken Butterfly is about trauma, abuse, addiction, and maternal love.
Reviewed by
Julia Dillman
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
