Daughter of the Queen of Sheba: A Memoir

An interesting book that had me hooked despite problems with the writing.

The story of her mother’s mental problems and their relationship is interesting, but the narrative wanders all over the place, and there are frequent patches of purple prose. In the end, I didn’t learn as much as I wanted to. I don’t know if that was an accident of the writing, or if she was holding back. It’s her life, I guess she can tell the story any way she wants.

Like a few other books I’ve read recently, the first chapter is a complete jumble of times, events, and thoughts, and is hard to get through. It gets better after that or I’m not sure I would have kept reading. There must be instructions somewhere telling authors to cram as much show more information as possible into the first chapter to hook the reader. It’s not working, or the lesson is being corrupted somehow. show less

A difficult but insightful personal tale of dealing with mental illness.

This was published in 1998 and I was living in Oconomowoc, WI where the setting of this novel was based at the time of publication. So I was very familar with the areas she described in her book. At the time I was unaware that the author was affiliated with NPR. I chose to read this book because someone in my family has bipolar disorder aka manic depression. I found it to be very interesting and charming at times and I am thankful that there is solid treatment now for people with this disorder. Just a little plug here for the independent bookseller Books & Co. in Oconomowoc where I buy most of my books. They are the greatest!

This was published in 1998 and I was living in Oconomowoc, WI where the setting of this novel was based at the time of publication. So I was very familar with the areas she described in her book. At the time I was unaware that the author was affiliated with NPR. I chose to read this book because someone in my family has bipolar disorder aka manic depression. I found it to be very interesting and charming at times and I am thankful that there is solid treatment now for people with this disorder. Just a little plug here for the independent bookseller Books & Co. in Oconomowoc where I buy most of my books. They are the greatest!

This memoir of living with a bi-polar mother was just too difficult to get through. I had read [The Glass Castle] earlier in the year and found that more to my liking. I didn't finish this book

i love the memoirs with the crazy moms.

Aus dem Schattenreich meiner Mutter