A Child Out of Alcatraz is an
interesting book. I did not realize until I read this book that the
families of prison employees lived on the island in state provided housing.
School age children took the ferry back and forth to San Francisco on a daily
basis.
This book is about one of those
families, and the chapters about them alternate with chapters about the history
of Alcatraz. Vivian and Arthur are the parents of Olivia and her older
siblings, Stella and Jerry. The story is told from Olivia’s point of view,
and is as much a story about the changing roles of women in society in the 40's,
50's and 60's as it is about what Olivia is going through, growing up in the
shadow of her siblings.
Vivian eventually starts seeing a
therapist and starts taking mood enhancing drugs, something a lot of mothers in
those years were doing. Olivia reports
again and again that Vivian will participate in family events and decisions if
she is “Up. To. It.”, her code for “capable of coping with reality”. In some ways Olivia becomes the parent as
Vivian’s coping skills diminish.
The outcome of the story is unsurprising, but it was a very good read, nonetheless. I really liked this book and Tara Ison’s
writing style.
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