Memorial Drive: A Daughter's Memoir

Memorial Drive, a compelling and tragic memoir written by Natasha Trethewey highlights her own adolescence, as well as the heartbreaking murder of her mother. The memoir begins in 1966, during her early childhood in deep-southern Mississippi, as she lives in a neighborhood filled with familial figures and is cared for by her interracially married mother and father. As her parents grow apart and ultimately divorce, Natasha and her mother Gwen pack their bags and move to Atlanta, Georgia, seeking a new beginning within a more racially accepting area. There Gwen meets her new husband Joel, or big Joe as Natashia refers to him, and immediately flags are raised about his behaviors. Joel proceeds to physically abuse and torment Gwen for the next ten years, as well as verbally slandering Natasha and her new brother, Joe. In the years that follow Gwen works to divorce and separate herself from Joel, moving herself and her family to Memorial Drive. This attempt at escape led to multiple murder attempts, though ultimately led to her death.

This memoir captures multiple important themes from racial violence and segregation, women’s rights and abusive relationships, mental health, and even the growth of adolescent girls. The beginning of the book is set in Mississippi, a southern state which held racially harmful ideals such as Jim Crow laws and segregation. Natasha recounts racially motivated acts of violence towards her black family, as well as her white father, throughout the beginning of the book, as she was constantly berated by white individuals for her interracial being. One night she depicts a terrifying night, as the KKK burned a cross in her driveway. Women’s injustices are followed through as she speaks about “the world of man and woman, of dominance and submission ” Trethewey, 104 Gwen was unable to leave her abusive relationship alive as there was a clear power dynamic between man and woman, as well as an absence of resources for women within those types of situations, especially women of color. Mental health, specifically revolving around mens insecurity and deeply rooted anger issues within the male gender are seen through Joel. You can specifically see his declining and overwhelming mental health issues through the calls shared between Gwen and Joe succeeding multiple murder attempts. Joel states “You chose death rather than me.” Trethewey, 180, claiming that she took his heart away, and proceeded to list the multiple ways that he could torment and kill her. Lastly, the growth of adolescent girls, and the conversion between childhood and adulthood is spoken of within the memoir. In one specific scene Natasha speaks about the time that she would hang out with two older girls in the neighborhood, as they would give her magazines and teach her about sexual innuendos. This memoir does not only revolve around the death of her mother, but also her own growth as a woman

When the author wins the Pulitzer Price, I often pass because the prose might be too literary for my taste. Not this one! Themes of race, divorce, and the death of her mother at the hands of family make this engaging. I love to listen to memoir to hear the author's read and Natasha did a wonderful job. The poet's cadence really shines in audio.