My Take On This Book
This book is about someone from a very privileged background, lots and lots of money, houses in every continent and rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous of the world is a common occurrence for her.
Neglect does not necessarily belong to the poor. Even if you are a child of very wealthy parents with an army of maids, nannies and governesses, you can still be neglected. Is not that your parents do not love you. They do very much, but they are just clueless about normal parenting. That is Ivana's life story. Her mum, Lady Caroline Blackwood, though she loves her children, is very handicapped at being a mother because she herself was deprived of parental love, despite having parents and despite the family's millions. The other main reason is because of her alcoholism. I always think that the poor are focused on trying to make ends meet that they have very little time to spend with their children. But the rich it seems, pass the responsibilities of parenting to maids and nannies while they indulge in lavish entertaining and socialising.
This memoir gives a portrayal of the lives of the wealthy. Ivana changes from one boarding school to another anytime she feels she cannot adapt to life in that particular school. Her parents do not particularly care how she or her sisters are doing at school. The children go to boarding schools, may be finishing schools after that. However, it very much amazes me that there was no mention of Ivana ever wanting to go to varsity to further her education. Of course, the fact that they are very well connected means she still can have a job with top level executives at Miramax. That is the thing about having money and knowing the right people.
They are fabulously wealthy and their wealth is beyond the understanding of ordinary people like me. Ivana's maternal grandmother was none other than Maureen Guinness, one of the three famous "golden Guinness girls". They have so much money that Ivana's mother buys houses at her whim and fancy. They stay partly in England, partly in America and at times in Ireland where the family originates.
Ivana herself suffers from alcoholism and goes from one rehab to another trying to cure herself. The memoir describes her struggle with alcoholism and other emotional issues in her life and it is also about her relationship with mother.
Brief Summary
Beautiful, intelligent and wealthy, Ivana Lowell seemed to have it all. Part of the Guinness dynasty, her family were glamorous and well-connected. Her charismatic but spoilt grandmother Maureen had made an excellent marriage with the Lord of Dufferin and Avon and was a leader of the fashionable set in her youth. Her mother, the writer Caroline Blackwood, socialised with the most glitteringly bohemian and high-profile figures of New York and London. Caroline had intense love affairs and was married to the painter Lucian Freud and the talented composer Israel Citkowitz before finally settling down with the poet Robert Lowell.
However, being born into the Guinness inheritance was not the blessing that it appeared to be. Ivana's life of glamour and high-living has been marked by tragedy and loss. Like her brilliant but troubled mother, she has been plagued by an addiction to alcohol which took root when she was still a self-conscious schoolgirl. Having survived a childhood accident which left her physically scarred and the instability of a frenetic home life, she is also faced with the discovery of a secret which threatens to undermine her entire past.
This frank and witty memoir is both vibrant and sad. It is laced with anecdotes and familiar names from the 1940s to the present, but it is ultimately an account of the relationship between mother and daughter, the story of two women whose deep affection for each other withstands everything that life has to throw at them.
No comments:
Post a Comment