Her Last Death, Summary #2 50-106

Summary

At this point in the book, Susy is a twelve year old girl who is celebrating her birthday in Venice, Italy. There, her mother makes unnecessary comments claiming that Givenchy, a famous man, is following her because he sits nearby their table. Also, she decides to take a few sips of a sweet drink and then her mother accuses her of being drunk.

Later on, more issues are revealed in the memoir that the readers did not know about previously. Her mother, Daphne, has a very bad back pain which has resulted in numerous back surgeries and medications. She also is in a conflict with her ex parents-in-law because they do not believe she should have left their son. Susy through her memoir reveals the internal struggles her mother battles with. For example, Daphne wants to commit suicide, however, does not because of the promises she makes to her children.

Daphne decides that she needs to move in order to get away from all the drama that has been occurring around her. She moves to New Mexico with her other daughter, Penelope. However, Susy does not want to move with them so she decides to live at her friend’s house. There, her mother calls her each night and is curious to learn about her feelings and thoughts. One day, she feels very homesick and visits her old apartment. When she does, she discovers that she very much misses her mother because she realizes her mother cares very much for her and makes her feel, “interesting, different, magical” (Sonnenberg 62). Her apartment symbolizes he old memories which have been left behind.

Soon after Susy moves in with her mother, she encounters her mother’s rage and signs of her mother’s insecurities appear. For example, her mom accuses her of wanting to steal her boyfriend then advices her to go find her own. She also advises Susy not to sleep with anyone this summer even though Susy is only twelve years old.

In another point in the book, Susy states that her mother dresses them up so they can appeal to men. Like many other girls growing up, she has a crush on a man who is much older but ends up inviting her to his house to make dinner for her. While she is worried about what might happen, Daphne agrees to it. It leads the reader to question what kind of mother is this?

It appears to be that Daphne shows favoritism towards Penelope. Susy is working in a theatre where Penelope is auditioning for acting. However, Daphne mistakes it that Susy wants to invade her sister’s territory. She then physically abuses Susy by punching her stomach which makes her hate her mother more than ever.

Susy decides to apply to boarding school to get away from all the drama. A lot of crazy things then happen when she moves into her boarding room. To “break in” the bed, Daphne sleeps with a guy who is only 19 years old. She also finds out that her old crush, Justin, who is about 18 years old moves into their house because the mother is dating him. This leaves her feeling a little oblivious.

In the final chapter, “Assault”, Daphne gets her first kiss and a French kiss from a student at her school who is a senior. The kiss mesmerizes her mind and it leaves her wanting more kisses. They date only for about a day before he decides to break up with her. After the breakup, she likes a guy called Hammond who then assaults her but her mind convinces her that it’s only a prank. She tells her mom what happened because they are extremely close when it comes to talking about boys and relationships and her mom threatens to press charges. Later on in the book, Susy’s father marries a woman named Katy who Susy appears to like. She shares things with her, like when Susy’s mother faces almost death when she mixes cocaine with water. The chapter ends with Susy and her English teacher going out to eat at IHOP. He tells her that it’s amazing because even though he’s fifty, he has no striking life experiences and she’s only fifteen with the world to tell.

Quotes

"At home I guided my sister from toothbrush to hairbrush, tugged her tights on, scheduled our dental checkups, thawed pears, scrambled eggs. I'd been doing these things since I was eight. I turned off the television when we'd watched enough. But at Marcy's, at any of my friends' houses, I didn't have to do anything but wash my hands before dinner." (Sonnenberg 60).

"She yanked my wrist up. Her party was gone, her bright fuzz gone out, and I felt the threat of oh no. Her lips whitened around the edges. "You keep your hands off my man. You want a man? Go find your own!" She released my arm, and the skin stung from her grip." (Sonnenberg 64)

Reaction

These quotes are somehow related to each other but it demonstrates the reverse role between the mother and the daughter. The responsibilities and actions the mother should be doing is done by the child and the action the mother is childish. However, in this case, it is the other way around. Susy is doing everything-from cooking to booking dental appointments to making sure she and her sister receive enough sleep at night. Despite the fact that she is taking on adult responsibility, she notices that at other kid's houses, she's comfortable and can act like a child. The mother in the second quote appears to be very insecure and childish, keep in mind that Susy at this point is only twelve years old. Daphne believes that her twelve year old daughter is attempting to steal her "man". Therefore, she demonstrates a trait of insecurity, a trait that is mostly present in adolescents as they are growing up. I mean, adults can be insecure at times but you would think they would be insecure about others reasons, not worrying about whether their daughter will steal their boyfriend or not. Usually, it is teenagers who might worry about whether their prettier friend or sister might steal their boyfriend so its funny to see her adult mom acting in this manner. It also goes to show that her mom sees her differently than reality. In reality, Susy is only twelve but in her mom's eyes, she's just a younger sister  who is an adult.

I really feel compassionate towards Susy because she is going through so much that someone her age should not be going through. She's facing a tough time that is not fair to her and can be damaging to a child psychologically.

I also like the format/style that the author uses in the last quote. She uses a few punctuation mark in order to make the readers aware of everything that is going on. For example, she italicized "keep" in order to emphasize on the mother's tone in that particular scene. She also uses an exclamation mark after "Go find your own" to show that she means business and she is very furious.

****Questions

• If Susy could change something about her past, would she wish to have a different mother? Like, would she trade in her mother for a, perhaps, better one?
• I'm wondering why didn't the father even have custody over the children?
• Does she regret growing up quickly or did it teach her a lot about life? It clearly influenced her life now, as an author
• Did she get along with her sister back then?
• Was the incident with Hammond actually a prank or was it really an assault?
• It doesn't mention her crying a lot back then so I'm wondering did she cry a lot or she learned to live with it/believed crying wouldn't change a thing?