Driving With Dead People

Monica Holloway's memoir Driving With Dead People will be discussed on May 4th at 3:30 p.m. by Bernardsville Public Library's book group, Saturday Samplers. The observation that some people ought never to become parents certainly applies here as the author reveals a childhood of parental abuse and neglect that proved shocking to the people who knew her family and later read her memoir. Some of the abuse from her parents was verbal, some psychological, some physical, some violent, yet those in her hometown claimed they were surprised to learn of this sad family history when her book was published.  Perhaps it was a result of the times, the 1970's, when neighbors didn't interfere with the sanctity of other people's families, but it is hard to believe that such obvious abuse and neglect were overlooked.  The more shattering, hidden abuse the author and some of her siblings endured is only revealed at the end of this book.  As she notes, "I almost feel like I have climbed Mount Everest. My sister and I don’t have the shame anymore. We gave the shame back in a way, not to the public, but to the people who can accept responsibility —
and that is why I wrote the book.”