Review: Lifesaving Lessons by Linda Greenlaw

You may remember Linda Greenlaw as being the only female swordfish captain in America and her brush with fame after the publication of Sebastian Junger's Perfect Storm. She has also appeared on television and has written several books, including memoirs and mysteries.

Although her latest memoir, Lifesaving Lessons: Notes from an Accidental Mother, includes stories about commercial fishing and lobster trapping, it's really about how Greenlaw took a fifteen-year-old girl, Mariah, under her wing and into her life, changing them both forever.

This is a difficult book to review because the circumstances in which Greenlaw became the legal guardian of Mariah are themselves difficult. In a nutshell, Greenlaw offered temporary shelter to Mariah when the teen's uncle fell off the wagon and needed some time to sober up. As Greenlaw and the entire small island community of Isle du Haut learned the truth of Mariah's home life, it was clear that the girl had been the victim of nearly lifelong abuse.

The result was three years of legal battles and domestic squabbles. With the support of the citizens of Isle du Haut, lawyers, counselors, and family services, the uncle was finally put in jail, and Greenlaw was able to give Mariah a stable, safe home. Finding tranquility and adjusting to each other as mother and daughter, however, proved to be much more difficult than either had anticipated.

In Lifesaving Lessons, Greenlaw is quite open about her uncertainties of becoming a mother to the often-difficult teen. In addition, with the blessings of her daughter, she reveals the details of Mariah's childhood and how the girl ended up running from her uncle in the middle of the night, seeking refuge with the few adults she thought she could trust.

You may feel you want to shy away from a true story of abuse and mistreatment, but I hope you don't. Greenlaw tells her story well, with a full mix of emotions, from humor and love to frustration, insecurity, and anger. She writes in a clear and honest style that is at once personal and universal. It is the hope of Greenlaw and Mariah that the book "will inspire or give strength to some other young victim to break out of the cycle of abuse" (p. 258).

I hope it will also inspire others to become accidental parents themselves. We cannot allow young victims to hide under the shroud of shame. These children have done nothing wrong and need strong, brave adults to help them find a way to live happy, fulfilled lives supported by a found family that can provide safety and love.

My review of the unabridged audiobook edition of Lifesaving Lessons (Brilliance Audio, 6 hr, 19 min), read by Linda Greenlaw, will be published by AudioFile magazine.

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Penguin USA / Viking, 2013
ISBN-13: 9780670025176
Rating: B
Source: Review (see review policy)
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