Customer Reviews

Living on the Sunny Side: A Memoir

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Some people have very interesting lives, yet very few have the time, talent or perseverance to write about their experience.

Thankfully, Sunny Deuber has taken the time to write her memoir: 'Living on the Sunny Side,' in which she traces her life from early childhood, up to the present day. Central to the story is Sunny's relationship with her Mother, Nora. Their relationship is far from a fulfilling one. Much of the novel chronicles Sunny's attempts to express herself independent of the `puritanical' Nora, and we can almost feel her straining to unleash herself upon the world and live her own life. This flawed relationship forms the cornerstone of this memoir. It creates a constant simmering tension and sense of unease. But through it shines the likeable Sunny - a firecracker, waiting to be ignited, to blast off and find her true self.

This book illuminates the parent-child relationship, and how it can inform a child's future life. Sadly, in this memoir, this often happens in a negative sense. We are told how Sunny broke up with her true love, primarily because she knew her family did not approve of him. In trying to win her family's approval she lost her true love.

This memoir is packed with details; perhaps a few too many in places, but to be fair, the quality of the details impart a real sense of plausibility. For example, we see Sunny performing Twelfth Night at an outdoor theatre in temperatures of 107 degrees - the costumes `heavy velvet, lined in horsehair, and cinched in so tight at the waist that breathing was damn near impossible." During her summer working at a Yosemite camp centre, we see Sunny sleeping with a collection of tin cans beneath her bed, so that their rattling will frighten away bears. Precise details that underscore the veracity of the story.

Sunny's life is no bed of roses! She is married 4 times and divorced 4 times. Each relationship is recounted with a refreshing brand of self-deprecating humour. All through we find ourselves rooting for Sunny, and we need not worry, because each time she is knocked down she bounces back up, hungry for her next adventure. There are poignant moments along the way. Sunny is badly injured (twice) in car accidents. There are physical injuries - 100 stitches to a head and face wound. But somehow, it's Sunny's emotional welfare that remains top of our worry chart. We want her to triumph and she doesn't disappoint. She joins Mensa, after scoring with a ninety-ninth percentile IQ. She broadens her skill base and takes jobs in computer training and aviation. We also share in Sunny's travels to France and Italy.

Without giving too much away, the ending of this book is a bittersweet one. Early on we see Sunny having a romantic moment in the Hollywood Hills, but in keeping with the unflinching style of this book, she refuses to bow out with a Hollywood ending. It is a sad ending (for me at least), but that is not to say this is a sad book. On the contrary, I found it an uplifting read. And that feeling of triumph over adversity stayed with me long after I had put this book away.

A brave book, honest and clearly someone with a story worth telling, I would recommend it to anyone interested in reading a good memoir or anyone interested in writing a memoir of their own.

Sunny's adventures excited me, though the story often felt bitter, and it seems each adventure ended in crap. In the end, the story is about the thrill of the adventure, that the adventure is worthwhile for its own sake, no matter how it turns out.

I will definitely continue searching for more independent memoirs, like this, to read, because it (like other similar works) gives a privileged view into the mind of someone so much unlike myself.