Susanna Sonenberg's Her Last Death(Simon & Schuster, January, 2008) is an "I-can't-put-this-book-down" racy, steamy memoir. Most of us learn about sex by getting hold of an unsuspecting couple's marriage manual while we were babysitting their kid. But it's Susanna's mother who tells her that orgasm is the greatest feeling in the world, her mother who has throaty, voluble sex with this man and that while who own two little girls are within earshot. And sometimes, through a half-opened door, they are eye witnesses too. It's Susanna's mother who demands sexual details from her and who makes passes at her boyfriends.
Her parents are divorced, but even her father intrudes on Susanna's sex life. "Do you masturbate?" he asks her when she's only eight.
It's no wonder that Susanna becomes a sexual adventuress, predatory and preyed upon. Her struggle to find her own identity, her hero (or rather heroine's journey) is gritty, moving, and inspirational. To grow up with such an out-of-control mother is to never have the luxury of acting spontaneously on one's instincts, to just relax and coast on the examples set for you in childhood. In order to transform, Susanna has to scrutinize each of her actions, delve into her own motives, reinvent herself
moment to moment.
Her Last Deathis rich in insight and inspiration and each page is an "Oh?" or an "Oh, no!" and most certainly a "yes." A startling and unforgettable read for anyone trying for personal transformation and for anyone who just loves a great book!
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