In this powerful and ultimately uplifting new novel set in 1970s Mississippi, the acclaimed author of The Last Suppers tells of three generations of women whose lives are thrown into upheaval when a dark secret is brutally exposed . . . On a hot, humid July morning, sixteen-year-old Cissy Pickering calmly and deliberately shoots her father in the back. To their Mississippi community, the … their Mississippi community, the death of well-regarded attorney Richard Pickering is a fascinating scandal. To Cissy’s distraught mother, Caroline, it’s an unforgivable crime. But in Cissy’s troubled mind, killing her father was the only way she knew to save the two people she loves most in the world. For years, Cissy has endured a devil’s bargain with her father, hoping that he would leave her younger sisters alone if she kept his abuse to herself. When that thin trust shattered, she saw no other choice.
Janelle Clayton, the family’s matriarch, has kept her distance from her daughter, Caroline—a fact she now regrets—yet she hopes to do right by her granddaughter. Cissy has always been an unusual girl, given to compulsive counting and list-making, but Janelle believes her implicitly. When Cissy is remanded to the Greater Mississippi State Hospital, a caring psychiatrist tries to help, yet new revelations drive Cissy to retreat even further from reality. It will fall to Janelle, despite her own failing health, to become Cissy’s advocate and rescuer. And over the course of an unlikely road trip, Janelle and Cissy will confront the truths they’ve hidden from the world and themselves, finding courage, deep-rooted resilience, and a bond tender and tough enough to transform them both.
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What do you do when killing someone is the only way to protect the people you love? If you are Cissy Pickering, you don’t hesitate or stop to reconsider. You put a bullet in your father’s brain one morning and blow everyone’s world apart. And, if you are reading this book, you understand why.
Noone should suffer what Cissy suffers at the hands of the man who should shield and protect her. The inevitable splintering of her mind, like the splintering of her family, is also justifiable. But this isn’t a Southern gothic tale of twisted secrets and murder. Everything is laid out on the page with unflinching honesty from the beginning. No, this is a book about love and what it takes to survive when the unthinkable happens.
While there are no details given about the abuse Cissy suffered, her fragility and tenuous grasp on reality are portrayed without apology. Her grandmother, Janelle’s, stuggle to show Cissy the unconditional love she needs while also coming to grips with her own past trauma is also delivered in a moving narrative inlaid with hope and tentative optimism. As the strength shifts from Janelle to Cissy, the reader can see recovery creep in, imbuing both with courage and determination.
This is a beautiful novel. As a fan of Southern fiction I love that this novel deals with situations other than race and social injustices. There is nothing wrong with those topics, but they are common to the point of ubiquitous, and this story is a welcome departure. The inter-generational aspect is also different, as Cissy and her grandmother have so much in common. There is little of old vs new guard, and this makes a refreshing read.
Ms. Mikulencak helps us travel thorny path in Forgiveness Road. Insanity, infirmity, age, and faith all twist and turn. But as the reader approaches the end perhaps the best forgiveness gleaned from the pages is the kind we give ourselves when forgiving others proves impossible. Read, and decide for yourself.
This novel is about three generations of women in the same family who have their lives spiral out of control one hot day in July. This event changes all of their futures and what they believe about their pasts.
On a hot, humid July morning, sixteen-year-old Cissy Pickering calmly and deliberately shoots her father in the back. In her mind it was completely justified – she was trying to save her younger sisters from the sexual abuse that her father had inflicted on her for her entire life. Her mother, Caroline, knew nothing about the abuse and isn’t sure that she believes it and blames Cissy for ruining her life and her standing in the community. Her maternal grandmother, Janelle, who had always been very proper and very standoffish to her daughter’s family is the only person who is on Cissy’s side. She convinces the courts that Cissy should go to a mental hospital instead of jail. Cissy is already extremely OCD and when more revelations come to light, she retreats even further from reality. Janelle decides to take things in to her own hands and despite her failing health, she fights for Cissy. And over the course of an unlikely road trip, Janelle and Cissy will confront the truths they’ve hidden from the world and themselves, finding courage, deep-rooted resilience, and a bond tender and tough enough to transform them both.
The wonderfully written novel shows love and resilience in three women in different generations of the same family. They all grow because of what happened but to me the best relationship that came about was between Cissy and her grandmother, Janelle. You may shed a few tears as you read this fantastic novel but they are worth it for the chance to read about these wonderful characters.
Thanks to the author for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.
Deals with timely issues. Thoughtful and thought provoking.
This is my first time reading this author, the blurb sounded interesting and I’m really pleased I chose to read this book. This is a story that is heartbreaking and yet it’s one that needed to be written. The author doesn’t just concentrate on the physical abuse that Cissy endures, she also goes into how this abuse outwardly manifested itself as Cissy struggles to gain some control over herself, her life. This is a riveting story that had me fervently reading page after page with an innate need to continue reading. If abuse, specifically child abuse is a trigger for you then this may be a book you have to take a pass on. For those who can read it, then be prepared for a very well written book that is a definite page-turner and a must read.
This was a great story of a family embracing a tragic truth and working their way through it and back to each other.
This book is the definition of family drama! 16 year old Cissy murders her father and sets a chain of events in motion. Cissy had been abused by her father for years. Out of concern for her 2 younger sisters , she sees no way around killing her father. Her mother Caroline doesn’t know about the abuse and she blames Cissy. Janelle , Caroline’s mother, is the only person Cissy has in her corner. After she is committed to a state hospital, a psychiatrist tries to help Cissy but so many secrets make her issues worse. Janelle and Cissy take off on a road trip and it is amazing for both of them. This is a story of family secrets and drama and of family relationships both good and bad. I really enjoyed this book and I loved the relationship between Cissy and Janelle. I received an advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Kensington Books. All opinions are my own.
4 stars
What an interesting book! The story is fascinating and the book just draws the reader in.
Cissy is a much misunderstood sixteen-year old girl. She talks to God. She counts things. Her very strict mother thinks there is something wrong with Cissy; she thinks her odd.
One day Cissy commits an irrevocable deed to protect her younger sisters. For this her mother hates her with all her being. But her maternal grandmother Janelle loves Cissy and tries very hard to protect her.
What follows is Cissy and Janelle’s journey to healing. For Janelle, it is an opportunity to open herself to the love of her granddaughter, something she couldn’t always give Caroline, Cissy’s mother. For Cissy, it is a chance to heal and learn about herself and the world around her.
This book is well written and plotted. It reads rather quickly and smoothly. I liked Cissy and her quirks, although it is easy to see why some people would think her strange. I really liked Janelle and her strength of character. Caroline, not so much. She thought more of her husband than of Cissy and flatly didn’t believe Cissy’s story. I know that this is not an uncommon occurrence in such situations, but the assumption that the child is lying still really frosts my preserves.
This is at once both a tragic and heartwarming story. I strongly recommend it for anyone who likes books about the relationships between generations and women both strong and those more tentative.
I want to thank NetGalley and Kensington Books for forwarding to me a copy of this very good book for me to read, enjoy and review.
I read about 1/3 of the book and had to give it up. Just not interesting and it got very boring after Cissy went to the mental hospital.
Ms. Mikulencak has written a compelling story of a sixteen year old girl, Cissy Pickering, who does the unthinkable. She kills her father by shooting him in the back. She is arrested and shows no remorse during questioning. All she will say is, “I had to do it to protect my little sisters.” Her mother turns on her, blaming her for ruining her life, but her grandmother, Janelle, does all that she can to protect Cissy. She hires an attorney who convinces the judge to send Cissy to a mental hospital instead of prison.
This is a very emotional story, filled with dysfunctional family drama. I was drawn into the story from the first chapter and couldn’t put the book down until the end. This is the first book I have read by this author, but it definitely won’t be the last.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Without plot spoilers, it’s a bit difficult to review. The basic premise is an excellent portrayal of the dilemma faced when a sexually molested child kills her abuser. The challenges were pretty realistic for the time (although it’s hard to say without knowing a particular state’s laws at that time). However, the last part of the book was not realistic and the ending totally ludicrous and unbelievable and unsatisfying. To me, the author seemed to run out of steam and gave up without devising a legitimate ending.
Forgiveness Road by Mandy Mikulencak
This book hit home and made me think of my mother, now deceased, and the story of abuse she revealed to me the day her father died. I was a freshman in college when she unburdened herself and did my best to absorb her pain. Her mother was not there for her but her grandmother was…and her grandmother had been in a mental institution so…there were definitely parallels in this book that made me think of not only my family but also of friends who told me of similar abuse in their own lives.
This book was well written and not easy to read due to the weighty issues that were dealt with – incest, child abuse, cutting, psychological care/institutionalization, bigotry, the race divide, religion, God/dess, cancer, domestic battery, dysfunctional families…and more. Cissy is a truly good person with an outlook on life that was interesting to read. She was mature for her years and there for her sisters in so many ways. She developed coping skills to deal with the physical and mental abuse her father handed out and these coping mechanisms at times made her seem peculiar. Even after reading the ending of the book I am unsure just what Cissy will end up doing and almost wish there had been an epilogue so I would know just what happens next.
Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.
4 Stars
Sixteen-year-old Cissy Pickering would do anything to protect her little sisters—even if that meant shooting their father in the back. It was a scandal that rocked the town, estranging Cissy from her mother, Caroline, and her beloved sisters. Only Cissy’s grandmother Janelle stands by her, and she needs her more than ever after further discoveries are made while Cissy is at the state psychiatric hospital. Determined to save her granddaughter at any cost, Janelle takes Cissy on a road trip that will leave them bonded more closely than ever before.
Beautifully written, with unforgettable characters you won’t soon forget, Forgiveness Road is a haunting tale about the measures someone is willing to take for the sake of the those they love.
I love to read novels that explore family relationships, particularly when they somewhat troubled or distant. Generational tales, especially, catch my eye because it’s always interesting to see how missteps of the past affect the future. A common thread between the relationships Janelle, Caroline, and Cissy had with one another was a lack of the closeness they all privately wished they had with one another. For me, that adds another element of heartbreak to the story, because they weren’t able to support one another when things went wrong. As I read, I kept hoping they would take the risk of being honest about their feelings to one another, because it physically hurt to read how badly they wanted to connect, but felt too afraid to try most of the time. It made the times when they did connect have an even greater impact, though.
I appreciated the attention Mikulencak gave to Cissy’s way of coping—by counting things and making lists— because it showed her taking control of something, when there was little she could do to control her father’s abuse.
There is a great deal I would like to discuss about this book, but spoilers are inevitable. Suffice to say that I found this book to be incredibly moving, and I really loved it. I have a feeling these characters will live on in my mind for quite some time.
This is a great read for fans of historical fiction, and I definitely recommend it!
I received an advance reading copy of this book courtesy of John Scognamiglio Books via Netgalley.
“Only our minds keep those dark moments alive and breathing, and only our minds can put them to rest.”
A heartbreaking, yet amazing journey of a young girl, named Cissy.
She has secrets that nobody should bare and yet a strong constitution and a delightful soul that will save her from hatred and allow her to someday love and once more trust.
This novel is set in the 1970’s in Mississippi. Cissy finds herself in a psychiatric facility for murder. Her biggest and only advocate is her grandmother who not only believes in her granddaughter, but will do whatever she must to rescue her from this punishment.
This includes kidnapping!
The excursion is liberating for both granddaughter and grandmother and truly an in-depth look at heartache, pain, abuse and love to the maximum.
This is an excellent story and the writing is phenomenal! Well done!