Cruel Harvest: A memoir by Fran Elizabeth Grubb

CRUEL HARVEST: A MEMOIR
 written by Fran Elizabeth Grubb with Bryan Reardon  


I had a hard time choosing which novel to request from Booksneeze.com this past month .. there were so many i wanted to read! I finally decided on another memoir. This one is of a girl and her family, their alcoholic father and rough times. 

I would not recommended this book for those who get upset easily over sensitive issues such as physical and sexual abuse..emotional trauma and much more. It was a hard read due to the content  simply because it is to imagine that any human being is capable of treating another (especially his own family) in the way that Fran's daddy treated them.

Through a deep dark road, Fran takes us through her past exploring how her life was at home with her family, how they had to hide from their father many times especially when he was drinking. Almost never could she remember him without a bottle in hand or the smell off his breath when he arrived home. Living in shacks, most of Fran's life was spent pulling cotton in the fields with her family, never allowed to miss a piece of cotton without her father's vengeful force catching her. 

A new baby in the family , came and Fran was saddended knowing the life it would have here in their home with her father. Slowly , Fran watched as her family snuck away from her and her father...watching the abuse happen with her daddy and her older sister. When her sister left she was worried he would come after her. Soon with the help of a neighbor, Fran managed to get away FINALLY, for good she thought. Until her father came along and kidnapped her from the safety of the orphans home...he played a good trick she thought. He came with his brother putting on a good show and recieved a 2 week visitation right. The girls thought great, but what will happen? He kept on driving and the abuse started and he never brought her back when the weeks were up. 

As Fran struggles in her later life, with the help of her husband slowly she finds almost every single one of her family members. Other than her "step-sister" and her mother. Meeting up with the family she hadn't seen in years was difficult but after their father's passing on Fran needed some closure and to know that everything she went through was real as it seemed so surreal. There is sooo much in this story it's hard to review without giving away too much detail but for me the one phrase I have come to learn in life definatly fits with Fran's life and that is "Thou who walks through the valley of death..." for soo many times Fran was knocking on death's door after a spat with her father or she was watching her sisters or mother be beaten to near death . She stood strong and made it through and got away from his evil grasp. 

Fran takes us on the horrific journey of life but shows light on the other side. Happiness and strength is possible if you just keep pushing on and never let anyone regardless of their relation walk over your heart /mind/body!!