Heartland

I held off reviewing this because my book club was going to discuss it, but then I missed book club. Doh'!
This one opened my eyes to a world inhabited by the rural poor I never knew existed. I guess I just stupidly assumed that those that lived in the breadbasket of America would have enough to eat. Consider me enlightened, and intrigued. Just as with the working poor, there are so few voices telling stories about those conditions, mostly because everyone is too busy working to have the luxury to sit and write.
I had a problem with the narrative device of talking to the unborn daughter throughout the entire book. It irked me. I'm not sure why.
I'm left with questions. How does one become a success without the rest of the family glomming on?
One could say a great many things about the women in this memoir, but it seemed that they made taking care of their own a priority (where would Smarsh be without her grandmother?) Yet Smarsh seems to have escaped that trap. I can only imagine that can be a source of guilt. Yes, she chose to avoid having children and got an education. She got out. But at what cost? Hmmm, maybe I will luck out and there will be a follow up book.