When the mother of three little girls commits suicide, their father wants more than anything to keep his family together. He remarries in haste and tells his daughters his new wife is their mother. The youngest, Laura, believes her mother must have gone through a kind of magical transformation. Reversible Skirt is written from Laura's perspective as a child sifting through remnants of her mother's existence and struggling to fit into a community where her family's strict rules are not the norm. When Laura's father dies, her stepmother grows increasingly abusive, which propels Laura and her sisters into a lasting alliance. Their father's wish that they stay together comes true, although not in the way he'd imagined.
Reversible Skirt
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More About the Author
Laura McHale Holland is a writer, editor and occasional storyteller living in southern Sonoma County. Her memoir, Reversible Skirt, was released in 2011 and won a silver medal in the 2011 Readers Favorite book awards. Her flash fiction collection, The Ice Cream Vendor's Song, was released in November 2012. Laura's work has appeared in The Best of Every Day Fiction Three, Wisdom Has a Voice, and several Vintage Voices anthologies. She has also written features for such local publications as NorthBay biz, the Noe Valley Voice, and the original San Francisco Examiner. She posts new writing weekly on her blog at http://lauramchaleholland.com. And she loves chocolate, always has, always will.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
What impressed me the most about Reversible Skirt is how loving Laura McHale Holland was able to remain under horrendous treatment. A small child, unable even to manage the steps, crawls up the stairs to see a mother who will not look at her. A stand-in-mommy, unloving and uncaring, sets about to rule her world. Holland presents cruelty against a backdrop of nostalgia and you are reminded of things you wanted as a child, games you played, clothes you wore - and that some children live a different, unhappy existence. Three little girls live together, but are unable to relate as sisters until finally old enough to piece together the puzzle of what happened to their real mother. That is when the healing begins - to understand it is not they who are wrong. I liked those girls a lot.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By C. Farrell
Format:Paperback
Laura McHale Holland is an eyewitness to the sad events of her childhood in this book: her young mother's suicide, her father's early death, her abusive stepmother's tirades. Laura's honest and wide awake look at the swirling world around her is skillfully drawn, so that we want to become her friend, to time travel back to those chaotic days and just hold her hand or play a game of checkers. Yet Laura's message at the end, to take away, is that we befriend other children in need and know that they are watching and hoping. Such is the generous heart and compassion of Reversible Skirt.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
Reversible Skirt, by Laura McHale Holland, is a heart-breaking memoir about one young mother's suicide as seen through the eyes of her youngest child, Laura. A toddler at the time of the tragedy, Laura is initially bewildered by the changes swirling around her family, including the appearance of a new stepmother, who is simply passed off as the same person to the children.
The author has done a masterful job of capturing the thought process of a young child as she struggles to make sense of the changes in her world. The tragic events of the girls' lives aren't over, unfortunately. The abuse they experience as they grow and confront of the truth of their mother's death and their father's choices can be painful to read. Yet it's worth persevering, because the book ends with Laura and her sisters finding strength and peace in adulthood.
Reversible Skirt describes a time in our not-too-distant past where mental illness and suicide were swept under the rug. While we have made some gains as a society, the situation will feel familiar to those of us who have lived through mental illness in our own families. What was most intriguing about the book was how the author and her sisters forgave their abusive stepmother after everything she did to them as children. Their ability to survive and recover from their challenging childhoods is uplifting. The capacity they show for forgiveness is truly inspiration.
The author has done a masterful job of capturing the thought process of a young child as she struggles to make sense of the changes in her world. The tragic events of the girls' lives aren't over, unfortunately. The abuse they experience as they grow and confront of the truth of their mother's death and their father's choices can be painful to read. Yet it's worth persevering, because the book ends with Laura and her sisters finding strength and peace in adulthood.
Reversible Skirt describes a time in our not-too-distant past where mental illness and suicide were swept under the rug. While we have made some gains as a society, the situation will feel familiar to those of us who have lived through mental illness in our own families. What was most intriguing about the book was how the author and her sisters forgave their abusive stepmother after everything she did to them as children. Their ability to survive and recover from their challenging childhoods is uplifting. The capacity they show for forgiveness is truly inspiration.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
I recommend this book.
This is a very well written book about a very difficult subject. The writing is so descriptive I felt like I was right there. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Frequent Reader
5.0 out of 5 stars
Reversible Skirt
Reversible Skirt was a book I could not put down. Though quite disturbing, Laura Holland wrote it so lovingly and with such grace. Laura painted a picture with words. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Sandy
5.0 out of 5 stars
It's the real deal.
Reversible Skirt is a very sad tale redeemed by the exquisite, simple beauty of the language. The story follows three little girls who suffer the terrible loss of their mother and... Read more
Published 8 months ago by MarlenaB
4.0 out of 5 stars
Charming and Poignant Memoir
Reversible Skirt was one of those books that really snuck up on me -- I didn't realize how much I was enjoying it until I realized I didn't want to put it down. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Denise Schiller
4.0 out of 5 stars
Live To Read
How do you cope with your mother's suicide? The author attempts to answer that question-or at least show how she dealt with the issue. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Common Sense
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Survivor Tells Of Childhood Abuse
Laura McHale Holland has written a poignant memoir about her childhood. "Reversible Skirt" tells the story of how Laura and her two sisters survived years of emotional and physical... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Janette Fuller
5.0 out of 5 stars
Haunting
Reversible Skirt is a book that haunts the reader. The voice in the book is Holland's, first as a two,nearly three-year-old, child unable to reach the lower pedal on her brand new... Read more
Published 22 months ago by K. Miller
5.0 out of 5 stars
Surviving the secrets
Culturally surviving a family member's suicide, let alone talking of it, was just not done 50 years ago. Read more
Published 23 months ago by W. T. Bonine, Jr.
2.0 out of 5 stars
Reversible Skirt
The author did a great job of representing the child-like references for the early years. I did like her subtle nuances of the little girl trying to figure out the adult world... Read more
Published 24 months ago by Sharon Nelson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Poignant and Honest
Expertly written, a poignant and honest story of Laura, a young girl who manages to keep afloat in a world flooded with loss and abuse. Read more
Published 24 months ago by Ann E. Philipp
