The Shell and the Octopus

A Memoir

Non-Fiction - Memoir
296 Pages
Reviewed on 07/05/2022
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    Book Review

Reviewed by Bernadette Longu for Readers' Favorite

In The Shell and the Octopus: A Memoir, author Rebecca Stirling has written one of the most soul-searching books about how parents can influence their children and the paths that they take in life. This book takes the reader on a journey, showing how parents can cause children to have problems and hang-ups that they have inherited from their parents. The events take place over a period of years from 1974 to 2015. The main characters that go through Rebecca’s life are her parents, sisters Emily, Sadie and Jeannette, Duncan Colman, Amit, Charlie, Lucas Gregg, Jim, Maria, Lee, Lee, and Ricky. These are just some of the people that make this a wonderful book of a journey from childhood to adulthood.

The Shell and the Octopus by Rebecca Stirling is one of those books that will call you back, again and again, to re-read certain passages as readers' thoughts will turn to their own childhood and trace the steps they took in growing up and becoming the person they are today. Rebecca gives the reader an insight into how some parents never really grow up or are prepared to accept responsibility for their own actions and decisions. She conveys a message of hope, clarity, patience, acceptance, understanding, and non-conformity to the reader. The author makes the reader think and re-think actions and incidents that helped shape their own life. A most interesting memoir.