Hi Dr. Gallerani, Thank you for your thoughtful reply/analysis. I hope Westover writes a sequel! Yes, this book felt very much to be one of escape and preliminary processing--there's lots of room to live and grow into more books if she so chooses.

I wouldn't have thought to study memoir in relation to my own as I was worried reading would too much influence my writing. I see that this is a mistake--we all have such unique voices--and, there is a lot to learn from reading material in the genre in which we're writing.

Happy reading and good luck with your future memoir! :)