Book Review: How to Forget

How to Forget by Kate Mulgrew was a hard book to read. The writing flowed seamlessly, and the story was absorbing. However, given my own mother's early stages with dementia, it was difficult to observe the journey play out in someone else's life. Still, I could not look away. The author's storytelling skill enthralled.

Kate Mulgrew is apparently a well-known actress. Having never watched Star Trek, Ryan's Hope, or Orange is the New Black, I wasn't familiar with her. She must be both a talented actress and a skilled writer. She weaves, in two parts, the stories of her father and her mother. Her father, when diagnosed with cancer, decides not to pursue treatment. Her mother battles Alzheimer's. This memoir details Mulgrew's humble origins, but focuses primarily on her parents' lives rather than her own. She doesn't spare her own opinions about matters and seems unconcerned about the differing perspectives of her siblings. I always wonder what it would be like to publish a memoir and experience the friction of different viewpoints. My life hardly bears revealing through a memoir, so I doubt I'll ever need to worry.