Seeing Eye Girl: A Memoir of Madness, Resilience, and Hope by Beverly J. Armento

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As the Seeing Eye Girl for her blind, artistic, and mentally ill mother, Beverly Armento was intimately connected with and responsible for her, even though her mother physically and emotionally abused her. She was Strong Beverly at school-excellent in academics and mentored by caring teachers-but at home she was Weak Beverly, cowed by her mother's rage and delusions. Beverly's mother regained her sight with two corneal transplants in 1950 and went on to enjoy a moment of fame as an artist, show more but these positive turns did nothing to stop her disintegration into her delusional world of communists, radiation, and lurking Italians. To survive, Beverly had to be resilient and hopeful that better days could be ahead. But first, she had to confront essential ethical issues about her caregiving role in her family. In this emotional memoir, Beverly shares the coping strategies she invented to get herself through the trials of her young life, and the ways in which school and church served as refuges over the course of her journey. Breaking the psychological chains that bound her to her mother would prove to be the most difficult challenge of her life-and, ultimately, the most liberating one. show less

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When author Beverly Armento’s visually impaired, mentally ill mother was enraged, which was often, she would pinch, bite, and beat her two daughters for the supposed crime of resembling their absent father. In this moving memoir, Armento explains how she grew up in the 1940s and ‘50s with two personas, “Strong Beverly”, the outgoing girl who excelled in school, and “Weak Beverly”, the timid one who cowered at home.

This memoir tells a frustrating story, because no one was willing to stand up to Beverly’s mother, or even acknowledge what was happening at Beverly’s home. The men in Beverly’s life—from the absent father to the diffident stepfather and the tepid boyfriend—were a particularly disappointing lot. As an show more adult, Beverly achieves professional success, but at a steep cost to her own mental health.

To those who like the dysfunctional family genre, I highly recommend this book. show less

Oct 16, 2022

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