Book Review - The Ugly Cry: A Memoir; Danielle Henderson

 

The Ugly Cry: A Memoir; Danielle Henderson

Penguin Audio - 2021

I was first attracted to this book by the catchy title and the cute little girl on the cover.   I felt an immediate urge to know more about Danielle's story.  So happy I read this memoir and, now my brief review.

Danielle Henderson's childhood was anything but normal. In the mid 80's at the age of 10 Danielle and her 11 year old brother Cory were dropped off at her grandparents house in upstate New York.  Her mother had no real plans to return for the children, choosing a life of drugs and multiple boyfriends over mothering.

The grandmother a hardworking, chain smoking, foul-mouthed woman with a penchant for horror movies thought that her child-rearing days were over yet, she did what she could in the only way she knew how and raised a second family.  

It is Danielle who narrates this audiobook and she does a wonderful job telling her story.  Yes, she was a deeply wounded girl who was abandoned by her mother and, yes, she suffered abuse in many forms early in life, yet she tells her story in a way that even has a way of lightening the painful moments of her life. There is also much humor infused in this story. I enjoyed all of the pop culture references from the 70s-90s, the time period that I raised my own two children.  I loved Danielle and enjoyed the way she described her challenges growing up  as a black girl in a white neighborhood.  I liked the ways she chose to stand out from the crowd in high school.  I wished the book gave even more information about the woman she became but I was, of course, able to Google it.  I also loved her spicy, foul-mouthed grandmother, the woman who stepped up to the plate, the woman who was not a role model for child rearing by any means but, she was a woman who raised Danielle with a sense of toughness and toward a greater sense of self-worth.

Readers who enjoy stories about dysfunctional childhood should add this to their reading/listening lists.  

Thanks go to Penguin Random House audio for allowing me access to the (7 hr. 33 min) audio download in exchange for my unbiased review.

Rating - 4.5/5 stars

(About the Author)

Danielle Henderson is a TV writer (Maniac, Dare Me, Harper House), retired freelance writer, and a former editor for Rookie. She cohosts the film podcast I Saw What You Did, and a book based on her popular website, Feminist Ryan Gosling, was released by Running Press in August 2012. She has been published by The New York Times, The Guardian, AFAR magazine, BuzzFeed, and The Cut, among others. She likes to watch old episodes of Doctor Who when she is on deadline, one of her tattoos is based on the movie Rocky, and she will never stop using the Oxford comma. Danielle reluctantly lives in Los Angeles.