This is a memoir of Fuller’s divorce after 20 years of marriage. For fans of this author, it reveals another aspect of her life. The tales she tells in her memoirs are funny and fascinating, although also often sad, dangerous, or unbelievable. There are repeats of some of the stories told in Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight and Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness. Even though each one of her books has a slightly different focus, they are all about Fuller’s Africa. If you are new to Fuller, the best one to start with is Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight.
Knowing her chaotic and reckless upbringing, makes me understand how, in her marriage, she would choose security over insecurity, certainty over instability, safety over danger, and quiet over drama. Sadly, the marriage failed. It was never possible for Fuller to be rescued from her childhood. She simply had to learn to save herself.
I found it so interesting that after moving to Wyoming with her husband Charlie Ross, she began to write novels–nine of them, all rejected by publishers. But when she began to write about her own life, in a series of memoirs, her books were immediately snatched up and published with enormous success.
The passages in this book that I found most beautiful were when she describes (with deep respect and admiration), her parents’ marriage. The Fullers were not exactly model parents, but the remarkable life they cobbled together, full of dysfunction and drama, still managed to stay strong and survive a great deal of misfortune and tragedy. Fuller says, “Over time, they have learned to make their foibles a part of the ties that bind them, their love is everything about them–not only the passion and humour and resilience, but also the aggravating habits, the quirks, and the flaws.”
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