Customer Reviews

Gal: A True Life

5 star:		(54)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

What a Story! Originally when I picked up Gal, I thought it was going to take me back to the `30s or `40s. Gosh was I surprised to find out that the author was born in 1961...she's around my age! As I read her story I was appalled and thought the atrocity of her situation shouldn't have ever happened. Where was the extended family? Why didn't someone...anyone intervene?

Ruthie Bolton, aka Gal, was born in the impoverished Hungry Neck section of Charleston. Ruthie's mom was a 13-year old teenager and she never knew her father. Tired of her step-father abusing her, Ruthie's mother left home and Ruthie, and never returned to claim her. Ruthie's step-grandfather, Clovis Fleetwood, while an honorable enlisted Navy man was a mean, vicious, brutal, selfish, jealous and unloving family man. Because Fleetwood though Ruthie's grandmother was cheating on him he brutally attacked her and left her for dead while her granddaughter and children watched. Ruthie's life would be pure hell after her grandmother's death and would quickly spiral into one of poverty, abuse, neglect, humiliation, and later in her teen years include stealing, drugs, alcohol, pregnancy, and an early marriage which ended in divorce. Only after Ruthie meets her second husband, Ray Bolton, and his family will she be shown love, support, understanding and compassion. And it is then as an adult that she realized that her family and childhood were not normal.

Gal is a heartwrenching but touching and poignant story. It's a story of overcoming obstacles and excelling in spite of adversity. It's a story of what one is able to accomplish when one has the love of a family. It's a story that I recommend to everyone but especially those who need the motivation to move beyond a horrible past. Ruthie's story is one of pain, humiliation, courage and ultimately love. Ruthie's life is a miracle and a triumph. Thank you Ruthie Bolton for sharing your story.

Ruthie Bolton (which is a psuedonym), or Gal as she is called, and her family experienced things that no one, especially young children, should ever experience in life. She was abandoned early in life by her teenage mother and later grew up being humiliated by others. She also suffers horrendous abuse at the hands of her grandfather, the same man who savagely beat and killed her grandmother. In an attempt to escape the harsh realities of her life, Ruthie develops some very bad habits, and makes several bad choices, one of which includes getting married at a very young age (for the wrong reasons), which ultimately ends in divorce.

Even though her past is horrific, she does not allow the ugliness that was her life determine her future. When she meets the man that will eventually become her second husband, Ruthie's life begins to change for the better. With the love and support of her second husband and his family, Ruthie begins to flourish. She goes on to become a wife, mother and career person, titles she never thought she would hold.

GAL: A TRUE LIFE was an absolutely riveting book. The emotions were so real I could feel them, as if I had actually lived Gal's life. I commend the author for having the fortitude and the desire to share her painful childhood with the world. I do understand the author's desire for anonymity, but I would love to meet and hug the woman behind the psuedonym Ruthie Bolton. She is the epitome of a true survivor.

Reviewed by Renee Williams
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

I truly enjoyed this book! I am a college student, and I hardly EVER get a time to do some recreational reading, and so when I went into a women and cheldren's bookstore, I glanced the shelves, and grabbed a book with the simplest title, "Gal". I cracked it open, and literally read it nonstop in one day. It was truly remarkably how Mrs. Bolton remembered all the events in her life, and was able to put it on paper with such frankness and honest detail. I mean, to speak of these events, up until the day she writes the book--remembering her estranged mother, relationships with relatives and men, and just riding that mental roller coaster of good times and bad times--shows courage, strength, and hope. She brought us through the times and the eras, through the changes and mindsets of life, especially in the South. All through the viewpoint of one woman. I also like the way the author seemd like an aunt or a neighbor, telling a story...not trying to use big words, not paying attention to grammar, but writing it in her style, the way she know how to get it on paper. This added flavor and personalization in a way that autobiographies rarely do. She told it like it was. Not sugar coated--when it hurt, it hurt, when she messed up, we felt her sadness, when she succeeded, we felt her joy. She was "Ruthie". And now we all know a piece of "Ruthie"...or if you prefer, "Gal". I bought this book brand-spanking new in October, and since then, I have passed this on to my mother, sister, and EVERY female friend I have. Now, it's all dog-eared and ragged, and I STILL highly recommend this for every woman pre-teen to adult, to read this and truly grasp the messages and the expereince within. I guess that's my two cents. Feel free to comment. ;)

Written in the author's language, this book was extremely powerful. Her story is at once horrifying AND inspiring. You know that if she could survive everything she did, you will also make it through whatever crisis your life's challenged by at the moment. Mothers, get this book for your daughters. Daughters, get this book for your mothers. You won't regret it.

The author's last line, comparing herself to the sunflower, was so beautiful, "It follows the sun." That's what she chose to do, look for the good in life instead of dwelling on her past. Bravo, Ms Bolton!

This book was recommended by a friend. When I ordered this book I did not expect it to be this GOOD! Gal was the best book I have read in a long time! Ruthie was the main character's name, but she was always called Gal. Ruthie never knew her mother, but she did see her a few times when she was young.

Ruthie lived with her grandmother who was abused by her husband-Ruthie's stepgrandfather. After Ruthie's grandmother died she was left to the brutal hands of her stepgrandfather. He beat her for every little thing that she did and used her as his personal slave. The way he treated Ruthie made me cry-I started to really hate this man! I kept saying to myself when is things going to go good for this girl. She met this guy name Ray who changed her whole world then her grandaddy got sick and who did everbody call on---GAL?! After everything this man had put her through Ruthie and her family moved back to her hometown to take care of this man. He still treated her like nothing and she was the ONLY one taking care of him!

This story made me cry more than laugh. After Ruthie's stepgrandfather died true feelings of some of her family members came to surface making Ruthie feel like nothing all over again.

Gal: A True Life was an expectional story and I highly recommend others to read it! ORDER IT TODAY!

Gal is a story of a life, one of ups and downs....as every life is. But this is also a story of moving on, in learning to accept the sour note that life throws our way and conquering it. It is filled with hope despite the trouble. Gal is tough. She is broken at times, but I strongly admire her for moving on, for learning---to some degree--that life is a journey forward. This is admirable. Couple the fact that poverty, hopelessness, racism, and familial adversity are all themes in this book, Gal teaches us a lesson: learn from the past, move toward the positive. It is worth it.

This is one of my favorite books. This book left an impression on me that I will never forget. This book is so raw and real that at times, it was difficult for me to read. I applaud Ruthie for having the courage to write about her life and the horrible events that she endured. The book made me angry, yet it was an eye opener to some of the real issues that many children face. I feel that this book should be a required reading in African American Studies.

I am so looking forward to just one more book from this author. I truly loved... this book. I finished this book in 4 hours. Once you pick it up, you will be trapped until you finish. The story of this little girls life will stay with me forever. When my daughter becomes of age, She will read this book. All praise to you GAL!

I so enjoyed this book and was rooting all the way through for Ruthie aka Gal. Many things about her reminded me of myself (I AM A SURVIVOR of sexual abuse) and, like Gal, I persevered. However, it was only by my Savior's grace that I was able to do so. It was interesting to read Gal's story in her own dialect (like "The Color Purple"). I could "feel" the beatings. I could "see" the house and garden after her return and renovations. I could "smell" the marijuana she smoked as her way of coping with her circumstances as well as the liquor on Daddy's breath. I couldn't put this book down and read it within a few days. I highly recommend it. A++

As I read this book I kept saying this cannot be true. I was shocked and horrified from the events that took place in Ruthie Bolton's life. Yet, I could not put the book down. I had to keep reading until I fell asleep. It is amazing. Five stars is not enough. This book deserves at least ten stars. Ruthie Bolton's strength and determination is something I will never forget. She will remain in my heart forever.

Ruthie Bolton, what a brave, brave woman. What a story, what a book. The harshness of this story makes one feel that they are in the south of the early 1900's or the latest 1940's, but to find out that this is a contemporary tale, that Ms. Bolton is maybe in her late 30's only makes one stop and reconsider and wonder. How? How did these things happen to these girls? Abandoned to the care of her Grandmother and Stepgrandfather, by a mother who was herself beaten and abused, Ruthie Bolton is a witness and a victim to abuse. At an early age she along with her young and equally helpless aunts watched her Stepgrandfather, savagely beat his wife to death. The beatings and the years of mental torture that followed left Ruthie twisted and angry. Drugs, sex, alcohol, nothing but the love of a family can save Ruthie -- and she finds it, along with a second husband. Ruthie grows through or in spite of her pain and even comes to grips with her abusive Stegrandfather. This story, this life, is truly inspiring. You go Gal!