Where You End and I Begin by Leah Mclaren

Where You End and I Begin by Leah Mclaren

A daughter's remarkable and unflinching exploration of the unconventionally intimate relationship she shared with her mother--a brilliant and charismatic woman haunted by past trauma. 

When her daughter is eight, Leah McLaren's mother abruptly fled her life as rural house wife in search a glamorous career in the city. In the chaotic years that follow, Cecily lurches from one apartment, job and toxic romance to the next. In a home without rules or emotional boundaries, Leah and Cecily become confidants--a state of enmeshment that suits them both. Their bond is loving but also marked by casual indifference. Cecily's self-described parenting style of "benign neglect" is a hilarious party joke, but for her daughter it's reality.

In Leah's first year of high school, Cecily makes a disclosure that will forever alter their relationship: From 12 to 15, Cecily confides, she was the lover of her 45-year-old married pony club instructor. The trauma of the "Horseman," she explains, is the reason for all her ill-conceived life choices, including marriage and motherhood itself which she now bitterly regrets.

For years after, into adulthood, Leah is haunted by the specter of the Horseman. He is the nameless darkness she observes in Cecily and worse yet, recognizes in herself. Eventually she sets out to discover truth of what became of her mother's rapist. Leah believes she will find solace in the facts, but first she must grasp a deeper truth: That this story--her story--is not the Horseman's after all.

A riveting and devastating portrait of mother and daughter, Where You End and I Begin explores the way intergenerational trauma is shared between women and how acts of harm can be confused with acts of love.

This raw and honest memoir pulls no punches, excavating the painful truths that define Leah and Cecily's unforgettable story.

• Mother-Daughter Enmeshment: In a home without rules or boundaries, Leah and her mother Cecily become confidants, forging a bond that is as loving as it is destructive.
• A Legacy of Trauma: Cecily's shocking confession about the "Horseman"--her childhood abuser--redefines their relationship and reveals the painful source of her life choices.
• A Daughter's Investigation: Haunted by her mother's past, Leah sets out to uncover the truth about the man who hurt her, only to discover that the real story is her own.
• Unflinching Honesty: A searing, literary exploration of memory, motherhood, and the complex ways love and harm become entangled across generations.

Leah McLaren is a novelist, journalist, longtime columnist for Canada's national newspaper, the Globe and Mail, and the Europe correspondent for Maclean's magazine. In 2013, she won a gold National Magazine Award in the long features category. Her first novel, The Continuity Girl, was published by GCP in 2007. She lives in Toronto and London, England, where she shares a home with her husband and two boys.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780063037182
ISBN 10	0063037181
Title	Where You End and I Begin
Author	Leah Mclaren
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	HarperCollins Publishers Inc
Year published	2022-07-26
Number of pages	256
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.