Shadows in My House of Sunshine - Softcover

Betts is a pleasant companion. Clear-eyed and insightful, she successfully brings the past to life, making it palpable and real. Her once well-to-do parents fell on hard times during the Great Depression and the family became vagabonds roving from one temporary home to another. But the author does not wallow in the low points or shy away from them. There was a lot of love in the family, but also many fights and much drunkenness, which Betts describes in unsparing detail. Her parents were capable of turning a poverty-ridden Easter into something magical. The author accepts the good and the bad of her reality. She holds true to this trait even as she moves into adulthood, talking frankly about the ups and downs of being a wife and mother and of her lifelong struggles to balance her needs with those of her husband and children. In her handling of her husband, Bob, readers discover Betts' soft spot as a memoirist. She is forthright in her assessment, portraying a man of considerable charm, intellect and cruelty. --Kirkus Discoveries