Welcome to the blog tour for Married at Fourteen by Lucille Lang Day!
Looking back at her adolescence, Lucille Lang Day describes herself as a juvenile delinquent and teen mother. She ran away at thirteen, got suspended from school and married at age 14, gave birth to her first child at 15, divorced her husband at 16, married him again at 17, and left him at 18 to go back to school.
Her autobiographical quest, Married at Fourteen, presents her unrelenting and ultimately triumphant journey across the badlands of familial trouble, emotional chaos, and the social and cultural upheaval in the '60s, to find fulfillment in romance, marriage, motherhood, and high accomplishments in both the arts and sciences. Lucille holds an M.A. in English and M.F.A. in creative writing from San Francisco State University, an M.A. in zoology and a Ph.D. in science and mathematics education from the University of California at Berkeley.
One of the great American contemporary memoirs, Married at Fourteen is a testament to the human spirit and a book for all of us who have sought independence, emancipation, true love, and personal fulfillment against all odds.
About the Author:
Lucille Lang Day has published creative nonfiction in The Hudson Review, Istanbul Literary Review, Passages North, River Oak Review, Willow Review, and many other journals. She is the author of the children's book, Chain Letter, and eight poetry collections, one of which received the Joseph Henry Jackson Award. Married at Fourteen has been excerpted in many literary magazines. The founder and director of a small press, Scarlet Tanager Books, she also served for 17 years as the director of the Hall of Health, an interactive museum in Berkeley. For more info, visit http://www.lucillelangda
Review:
Married at Fourteen is the autobiographical story of Lucille Lang Day. The first half is a fairly chronological telling of her life including marriage at 14 and a child at 15. The second half of the book is a series of intermingled tales from throughout her life. Through it all, Lucille has to navigate some very hefty stuff much earlier than most girls must learn these difficult last lessons. Some of the lessons take much longer to learn, but ultimately this is a story of triumph and self-discovery.
This book was so interesting. Lucille decided very early on that she had an unhappy home-life, and that the best way out of it was to get pregnant and get married. I think life for her was probably very rough growing up. It seems like her mom needed more help than she was getting. I found it both a bit fascinating and sad that Lucille became so convinced that marriage and a child were her ticket to freedom and happiness. Clearly in hindsight she can see how warped this thinking was, but she was certainly single-minded as a teenager. Her tenaciousness was very apparent through her life. Whenever Lucille decided to do something, Lucille did it. Whether it was getting multiple degrees or finding true love, she rarely wavered from her course. There is something to admire in that.
While at times things were a train wreck, this ultimately became a story of success despite the odds. With all the less than desirable decisions Lucille made at different times, I really feel like she ultimately was able to find her own happiness. There's a lot to learn from that. Everyone has messy lives to some extent, so we have to decide what we are going to make of it. Lucille decided that she would be successful. There are a lot of wonderful things to learn from this book. It will make you think and perhaps even find renewed vision to do all the things you always wanted to do. In the end, Lucille did that. She didn't let anything get in the way of her dreams.
This book was so interesting. Lucille decided very early on that she had an unhappy home-life, and that the best way out of it was to get pregnant and get married. I think life for her was probably very rough growing up. It seems like her mom needed more help than she was getting. I found it both a bit fascinating and sad that Lucille became so convinced that marriage and a child were her ticket to freedom and happiness. Clearly in hindsight she can see how warped this thinking was, but she was certainly single-minded as a teenager. Her tenaciousness was very apparent through her life. Whenever Lucille decided to do something, Lucille did it. Whether it was getting multiple degrees or finding true love, she rarely wavered from her course. There is something to admire in that.
While at times things were a train wreck, this ultimately became a story of success despite the odds. With all the less than desirable decisions Lucille made at different times, I really feel like she ultimately was able to find her own happiness. There's a lot to learn from that. Everyone has messy lives to some extent, so we have to decide what we are going to make of it. Lucille decided that she would be successful. There are a lot of wonderful things to learn from this book. It will make you think and perhaps even find renewed vision to do all the things you always wanted to do. In the end, Lucille did that. She didn't let anything get in the way of her dreams.
Book provided for review.
I have a copy of this book to giveaway! Unfortunately this giveaway is for US residents only due to mailing costs. There is one easy entry and an entry for following this blog. Thanks for stopping by!
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1 comment:
It sounds like a hard, painful read, but worth it.
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