Calla Lilies

Four young Southern sisters try to live life with courage and determination despite an alcoholic birth mother who deserted them and a maternal grandmother who left them at the Salvation Army. Two sisters remained in foster care during childhood, but all four women have subsequently reunited and are close despite recurring sibling rivalries. Through all their adversities the four sisters show an amazing inner strength and resiliency, and it is obvious they care about improving their lives. Conversations from 1994-2002 between the sisters and their stepmother reveal surprising events in real-time; their lively and impassioned personal conversations read like a novel but are absolutely true. Their stories include heart-rending acounts of childhood physical and sexual abuse and spousal abuse in marriage, unwarranted loss of children, living on the minimum wage, and repeated ER visits resulting in pain-medication addictions. Boxes of statistics inserted between the conversations add educational material to support the many social issues in the book. These women are survivors, but it is easy to see that traumatic childhoods left them with drug and alcohol addictions to stop the pain and memories. One has served time in Chowchilla Women's Prison in California after life on the streets of San Francisco and LA. This book speaks volumes to the unfairness of our legal system and its failure to rehabilitate offenders. At the heart of this memoir is a touching love story of five women, four sisters and their stepmother, who support each other with uncompromising loyalty and devotion.