True Tales of Kith and Kin:
The 10 Best Family Memoirs
by Jennifer Ridgway
“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way” –Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina
Tolstoy’s quote is often cited when talking about families. Memoirs offer us a glimpse into other people’s lives and other people’s families – families that are often unhappy or dysfunctional in some way. Here are ten memoirs with very different families, and very different dysfunctions, all worth reading.
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Glitter and Glue
Available from:Set in Australia, during the years she spent working as a nanny for a recently widowed father of two, Glitter and Glue examines Corrigan’s evolving view of her mother and the mother-daughter dynamic. Read more about Corrigan’s childhood, her larger-than-life father, her own marriage, and her and her father’s battles with cancer in The Middle Place.
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The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother
Available from:McBride writes two parallel stories: that of his own childhood growing up with his eleven siblings in poverty, and that of his white mother, who moved to NYC before the civil rights movement and married a black man. This is a beautiful book about race, family, and a mother’s love.
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Angela’s Ashes
McCourt’s memoir of growing up in the slums of Limerick, Ireland won the Pulitzer Prize. His childhood was, in his own words, "miserable." His singular voice, humor, and tenacity make this a must-read. This tale ends with McCourt’s arrival in America; he continued his adventures in ‘Tis and Teacher Man.
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The Liars' Club
Available from:Karr set a new standard for memoirs when she wrote The Liars' Club. Her childhood was a mixture of hilarity and dysfunction. While she pulls no punches in the portrayals of her family and parents, she never condemns them.
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Running with Scissors
Burroughs’s memoir is about the years he lived with his mother’s psychiatrist, the psychiatrist’s family, and some other patients. Reading this is a ride like no other – no school, a pedophile living in the backyard, and an electroshock therapy machine available for fun.
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Playing House
Available from:Slater had a rocky childhood that left her with no desire to have a family. However, she did eventually marry and have children. In this collection of autobiographical essays, she examines her decisions and asks poignant questions about domestic life and family – questions that we may not like the answers to.
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The Splendid Things We Planned
An acclaimed biographer, Bailey turned his pen on himself and his family. His brother is the centerpiece of this story – a dangerous figure in a downward spiral. Bailey is also brutally honest about his own faults and failings.
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Raising My Rainbow
Available from:Duron and her husband have two sons, one who loves building with Legos and playing sports, and another who loves all things pink and sparkly. In this book, she writes warmly but frankly of the challenges and joys of raising a gender variant child.
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The Glass Castle
Walls opens her memoir with the scene of her in a New York City cab, looking out the window, and seeing her mother rummaging in a dumpster. Her mother was a free spirit, her father an alcoholic. She and her siblings had to raise themselves. Despite this, Walls maintains unconditional love for her parents, which comes shining through.
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