Saturday, June 22, 2013

True North - The Shocking Truth about "Yours, Mine and Ours" by Tom North (Non-Fiction, Biography)

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In 1968, a movie called Yours, Mine and Ours was released.   It starred Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda and was based on the story of a widow and widower who married and combined their families and who had a total of eighteen children between them at the time of their marriage.  The movie showed an idyllic, though chaotic and hectic family life and many people fell in love with the idea of it, myself included.   The idea of a large family that cared for each other was enchanting, of course.

As with many things in life, the story that we saw on the screen did not reflect what happened in real life. One of the oldest of the children, Tom North has stepped forward to tell what life was really like in the combined Beardsley and North household and how it affected him and all his siblings, natural and acquired.

Parts of the story are shocking and sad, parts are simply to be expected as a result of the situations that occurred and the fact that the treatment of depression, including the postpartum variety was so much less understood at the time.

This story tells us about emotional, physical and sexual abuse and about clear child neglect that wouldn't be tolerated by today's standards.   It deals with drug and alcohol use and abuse and other emotional baggage that was the result of dealing with the dysfunctional relationships.

This story also shows us a man who made it through all that and found a path for himself to heal and to grow and to continue to help and support his siblings.

I found it to be both sad and comforting and wish the best for all concerned.  My thanks to the author for sharing the story.

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