“The Sitting Swing” Book Review

In The Sitting Swing by Irene Watson, she begins by checking herself into a self-help center. Irene is adamant that there is nothing wrong with her, but she was there to learn why all her friends raved about that center.As she begins to reflect on her life through promptings of the program, she begins to reveal her very dark, depressing past.

This woman who has grown to have a family of her own and work as a psychologist of sorts was raised in a home with a never-present father and a controlling mother. As a child, Irene faced all kinds of abuse from physical to verbal to sexual, which makes The Sitting Swing one of the most difficult books I have ever read.

Though I loved the author’s humor and writing style, I had to put the book about half way through. The stories she tells and the details she shares of her tormented past were more than I care to trap in my mind. I am well aware of the tragedies that children are put through by those who should protect them most, and though I feel weak to some degree for not being able to finish this book, I just don’t want to dwell on the darkness of Irene’s past, or to bring that darkness into my home through the negative mood I find myself in every time I read more of her heart-wrenching story.

I can easily see how this book would be a wonderful asset to those with similar pasts…the knowledge that you are not alone, and the ability to see how the author was able to overcome it all. But for me, the negative mood this book would send me into, was not worth reading through it to the end.

Disclosure: Though I was provided with a free book and compensation for the purpose of this review, all opinions expressed herein are mine.