The Girl with the Black and Blue Doll is a survival memoir that introduces us to three-year-old Linda as she flees her mother's anger by sliding into the far reaches of her bunk bed underworld with her battered Betsy Wetsy doll.
The setting is a three-generation family farm in 1950s and 1960s New England. Her story reveals a feral child who is parentified early on, taking on heavy responsibilities and enduring neglect, which contributes to Linda's childhood shyness and depression.
Linda's mother is a skilled liar who will do anything to shirk her responsibilities as a parent, especially failing to satisfy Linda's curiosity about life by replying to her daughter's many questions with "I don't know." Linda's father is a depressed and temperamental man with regrets for paths not taken. Her grandparents are an intriguing mix that brings both love and bewilderment into her life, and while her siblings are burdensome weights in Linda's early years, they become invisible as time goes on.
As soon as she enters the wonderland of kindergarten, Linda dreams of possibilities beyond the borders of the farm. Mummy says she's too big for her britches, and before long, Daddy will maintain she is not college material. He wants Linda to work in a factory!
The girl with the black and blue doll faces increasingly intense emotional setbacks. Her childhood is one disaster after another, from gunshots at the school bus stop to a disastrous one-and-only birthday party and a shocking Christmas morning.
But although Linda's growing-up years are filled with mistreatment and mishaps, her character somehow holds the will and the drive to persevere.
Even though her successes are not celebrated at home, Linda continues to excel academically in high school, but socially, she feels lost. The turning point comes when Linda arrives at college, where, against all odds, she finds kindred spirits. It's the Age of Aquarius, and Linda fits right in, embracing the flower child lifestyle while listening to psychedelic rock. Here, for the reader, it's inspiring to see Linda transform into an independent young woman amid the Hippie Movement and the Vietnam War.
If you enjoy a fast-paced story with twists and turns, you'll like The Girl with the Black and Blue Doll.
Today, we would see her family as dysfunctional and her depression as undiagnosed Body Dysmorphic Disorder.
