Review: Family Sentence
Jeanine Cornillot grew up outside of Philadelphia with her mother, grandmother, aunt and three brothers. As the youngest of the four children, she doesn’t remember ever living with her father. Her mother told her these five things about her father:
- He is a Cuban revolutionary.
- He was sentenced to thirty years in prison for anti-Castro bombings.
- We don’t know if he is guilty or innocent.
- You are forbidden to talk about his life in prison outside our house.
- “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” is his favorite song.
Jeanine’s home life was happy enough even though her family barely managed to keep their head above water. She spent time in Miami with her father’s side of the family every summer even though she doesn’t speak Spanish and most of them don’t speak English. They didn’t talk about her father much either, but they did take Jeanine to visit him in prison a few times.
As a child Jeanine imagined all kinds of things about her father, but sadly, most of them weren’t true, and, as an adult, she is forced to face the reality of who is and decide what role she wants him to have in her life.
Family Sentence: The Search for My Cuban-Revolutionary, Prison-Yard, Mythic-Hero, Deadbeat Dad by Jeanine Cornillot sounded like a book I would just love, but it ended up being just okay for me. I never really felt connected to the author as a child, although I did when she was an adult. At times it seemed like the book focused too much on mundane daily things that weren’t relevant to the story. I did find myself greatly admiring the author’s mother – she never said a bad word about her children’s father, always stayed upbeat and made sure her children visited their father’s family on a regular basis. The book left me wanting to know more about Jeanine’s feelings as a child.
Jeanine Cornillot has worked in TV and has even won an Emmy Award for producing. She co-produced a radio documentary based on Family Sentence, which was aired on the BBC.
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The title really caught my attention!
I’m with Mary on this!
Hummm. The summary makes the story seem very interesting, but I’m going to take your work on this — I have so many books to read, I don’t think I’ll add this one to my list.
Aw, sorry to hear it wasn’t as good as you were hoping!
I’m sorry you were disappointed. It does sound like it had the potential to be great!
Sounded interesting. Too bad it didn’t deliver.
It sounds really interesting – the cover caught me right away. Thats always a bummer when you are excited to get into a book and find it not what you had hoped.
It does sound interesting, too bad it didn’t quite work for. What a childhood, knowing your father is in prison.
I really like the title of this book, but I’m not sure this book is for me.
It sounds very good. I had to make a paper about Castro and this story sounds very interesting. Too bad with the ending.
I am in agreement with most. It sure sounds like a compelling read…Bummer there wasn’t a connection. Nice review.
This sounds interesting, but if you say it is just ‘okay’ I’ll pass.
The story sounds like something I’d like to read. Too bad it didn’t live up to the expectations.
This looks like something I would enjoy, and might check it out at some point just to give it a chance. I really like nonfiction/memoirs. The mom does sound like she was amazing.
I would agree with you…I would want to know how SHE felt as she was living with this hanging over her head. Sort of a Jeannette Walls thing. I have to admit, though, the title is great!
This books sounds like it had potential. Sorry it seemed a little disappointing.
Sounds interesting; I’m not sure it’s for me but it sounds like it wasn’t really for you either. 😦
Wow, the mum sounds like a really strong character in this book. Sounds like a great read.
It sounds as if this father was a real enigma, because of his absence from the family.
Thanks for your honest review.
A safe and happy Halloween to one and all. 😀
This is an interesting story and one that hasn’t been told that often. Good review Kathy! 🙂
Aw, darn. With a title like that, I was really hoping it would be a winner.
I’m sorry to hear this was just okay. What an interesting story the author has; too bad she wasn’t able to make more of it.
It’s admirable that the mother didn’t malign the father – that’s such a tough line for people to hold when the family falls apart.
Sorry this one didn’t work out for you; the publisher’s synopsis would have attracted me, too.
Sorry this book didn’t totally work for you. Sometimes I feel like it’s hard to review memoirs because it feels like you are passing judgment on the author and their life, when in reality, much of the problem lies in the way the story is written. It does sound like an interesting book though.
I’m really picky about memoirs, so I don’t think this is something I’d read, though the premise is interesting.